Bastions of Hope
by Lonelyone-Kenobi
Summary: Each was born into a legacy of darkness, some darker than others. To overcome that darkness and be better than their predecessors, they must find the light within the darkness. Protect and hold close what is dear to them. Hope for a better tomorrow and fight for it today .
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Legacies or the entire TVD universe.

 **Summary** : Follow the story of my OC as he navigates the Salvatore Boarding School along with the main cast when monsters attack and the darkest of creatures are revealed.

* * *

He had nothing better to do and she was wasting her time. Tick tock, with each movement of the hand one of the 2 sounds echoed throughout the room and a second passed. 1 became 2 then 3 then 4 and continued on until it culminated into 946 seconds of silence in the room.

He sat with his back straight and shoulders back, unmoving for the past 16 minutes. He stared her directly in the eyes and as she did the same. The silence still washing over them.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked being the first to break the 16 minuet long silence. Those being the first words that had been spoken after the obligatory greeting he first gave when he entered the room.

"The barn. After this I'm going to take a nap." He answered automatically.

"You do realize you are talking to faculty member about skipping class?"

"Yes."

"Is there reason for you skipping class? Besides you being tired."

"No." He said promptly ending the conversation from his end she could continue on with it but he had checked out.

"Well okay then. I guess you will be attending your class after this." She had given up on trying to engage him but she was adamant on him attending class once their sessions were over.

"There is a new student coming in today. A young werewolf. Any thoughts on that?" There it was. Another futile attempt to engage with him.

"No." He responded ending her second attempt to engage him.

By this point Miss Tig would unofficially end the session. It had become their routine for the past year. He would show up to their morning sessions on Monday and Thursday, he'd sit in the chair across from her after the obligatory greeting and begin a starring contest between the 2. At some point during the session she'd ask him a question to try and engage, he'd answer some of those question but in time he would begin to give one worded answers that gave her no room to direct the conversation.

Miss Tig was a patient woman. She never tried to force a breakthrough like the last school counselor Mr. Munn. The man thought himself a psychological savant and tried various methods to reach him and coerce a breakthrough which all ended in failure. Miss Tig on the other hand was using a different approach. Patience and support. She was going to try and wait him out hoping that he would inevitably talk to her and begin the process of a breakthrough or at the very least he would turn to her if he needed to vent or less likely a shoulder to cry on.

Miss Tig and Mr. Munn had 2 different to dealing with him but in the end their methods would end in failure. He knew this, Miss Tig knew this but hoped for more, Alaric and Caroline knew this but still insisted he attend these session twice a week for the past 4 years.

The official end of the session had finally come so he stood from the chair headed for the barn.

"Before you head of to your next class." A passive-aggressive reminder of his attendance "I would advise you to make friends with the new student coming today. He might need help transitioning and you might want to talk to someone your own age."

"Noted." He acknowledged her request and automatically decided not to take it. "Goodbye Miss Tig." The obligatory Farwell that came at the end of their sessions

"I'll see you in class Duncan." She reiterated his attendance. Now she wasn't his counselor and he wasn't her patient. She was a teacher and he was a student. "Do try to make friends with him Duncan it would be good for you."

He thought longer on her advice, weighed the pros and cons but inevitably he still decided not to take it. He didn't need to befriend the new wolf. He would continue to do what he had always done. Stay out of everyone's business so they'd stay out of his.

* * *

He was laying back on the second floor of the barn thinking back to those days of relative peace, when the most exciting thing that happened was a new student joining the school. It's not as if it was a time far back. It was last week Thursday. Since then, some stupid knife had been stolen, the school had been attacked by a gargoyle and during all of that time of 6 days Hope and the new kid had fought a dragon if rumors were to be believed. Now girls were missing at the local high school.

He had his money on one of the vampires killing the girls. But he didn't leave out the possibility that he could be wrong. One is an action, two is a coincidence but 3, that was a pattern. If he was wrong and it wasn't one of the vampire then the days of relative peace would be over. For them.

It wasn't his war. His war was else were on another continent.

Even now he could tell that wasn't how the story would go, somehow, some way he would be dragged into their war. He'd have skin in the game and would be forced to fight. Until then he would do his best to stay out of all of it. Which would be harder considering someone had entered his domain in a rushed b-line headed towards him.

The footsteps small and dainty like a girls, even accounting for the rushed pace they were still making head way so it was an older girl. Heartbeat rushed caused by either anxiety or fear. They had entered the proximity of the barn and rushed towards it without any hesitation so he canceled out fear. Leaving anxiety. She was worried and concerned about something. So she wanted something from him. His deductions were proven true when she walked into the barn.

"I need your help?" Josie asked the moment she walked into the barn. Cutting formalities and obligatory greetings. He appreciated that she didn't waste his time beating around the bush, but he didn't appreciate the conversation taking place.

"Continue." He told her from his position on the second floor. It was a nice little spot he had made for himself for whenever he needed a break. His diet of studying and training required several of those.

"I know the rules. Witches stay out of Wolf business, Wolves stay out of Witch business. Which is why I need you to help Raf, Jed is forcing him to join the school pack. But he won't. Jed and his cronies almost killed Raf a few minutes ago because he wouldn't and I know this won't be the last time."

"No it won't. But I can't help you there." He answered honestly and before she could go on either a pleading or angry rant he jumped down from the second floor landing directly next to her. It startled her causing her to move back defensively raising her hands as if she were about to cast a spell.

"The same way Witches stay out of Wolf business, I stay out of pack business and vice versa." He found himself doing something he hadn't done in a while. Justifying himself. But he liked Josie. She was one of the good ones, big heart and all. Always caring for others. It was good quality to have on paper but it made her weak and vulnerable. He wasn't going to try and change that about her she. She made that choice herself, it would either lead her to a life of happiness and misery. His choice would only lead to one thing and happiness was never on the table. So he made another choice, one that wouldn't benefit him in anyway but would help Josie and the new kid out.

"I can't help him, but you can. Right now he's most likely raving and raging somewhere trying to let loose his rage and anger. Find him and calm him down before he does something stupid and dangerous. Jed's an alpha. He's a newbie wolf. He needs a pack. Make him understand that otherwise Jed might end up killing him." It was the only way they could help the new kid. Wolves were territorial creatures and lone wolves were a threat to pack territory. Jed grudgingly accepted one lone wolf, two lone wolves were a pack waiting to happen. Hope Mikaelson didn't count.

"Thank you." Josie unenthusiastically replied. It almost sounded sarcastic when she said it.

But he didn't care. He'd said his peace what she did now was here choice. He was done with the conversation and avoided getting any skin in the game. She walked away probably in search of Rafael and he jumped back up to the second floor to continue his daily bread of studying and training. Preparation for the wars to come.

* * *

One is an action, two is a coincidence, and three is a pattern. A knife is stolen leading to a dragon being fought that is one. A Gargoyle attacks the school looking for said knife that is two. An Arachne attacks the school presumably looking for the knife that is three.

Dragons, Gargoyles, Arachneids he wondered what next Nymphs, Centaurs, Dryads, Grogons, Chimeras the list of threats is endless and had become an unwanted distraction. Now there was an honor council giving power to the 3 school factions.

It was easy to predict the outcome of the elections. Josie would win despite Lizzie campaigning for the honor seat for the Witches. Lizzie wasn't as likeable as she actually thought and she would be terrible at that job. She was too self-centered. Penelope Park would also be detrimental to Lizzie's campaign. She too would be terrible at the job. She was too flaky and uncertain, nobody would ever knew where they stood with her. But at least she wasn't Lizzie which was why she would probably be the runner up. Josie would win because she wasn't Lizzie and she wasn't Penelope. She wouldn't be bad at the job and she cared about people. She was the lesser of three evils.

Kaleb would win the vampire vote right under MG's nose. Right now Kaleb was a martyr to the vampires and MG was their Judas. Even under normal circumstances they would never vote for MG. He was too soft and weak to be a proper leader. But more importantly he was head over heels in love with Lizzie. The kind of stupid puppy love that makes people do stupid things. The vampires would never accept a leader under the thumb of a witch especially Lizzie Saltzman. Kaleb would win almost unanimously. The only person that would vote for MG was MG

Jed was terrible for the job but he'd already won the wolf vote. The perks of being an alpha you decided what the pack will do. None of the other wolves would dare challenge Jed except for Rafael. The kid was young and hungry and hadn't been broken down by the pack hierarchy yet. He may have joined them but it wasn't his pack yet. Not when he still held stronger ties to people outside the pack like Landon.

If the school were to come to the conclusion that Landon wasn't dangerous. Then to show the importance of the honor council and show it wasn't a weightless crown. The council would decide if Landon stayed or not.

Miss Tig would vote on behalf of the lower students to have Landon stay as some lesson on acceptance and inclusion. A fair lesson to teach in an unfair world.

Josie would most likely vote for Landon to go as a way of protecting her friends and more importantly her family. She cared about people probably even Landon but she would understand he was a threat.

Kaleb would vote to have Landon go, out of bias against humans. Which never made sense to Duncan seeing as until a year ago Kaleb was human.

Jed would vote for Landon to go. Not because of any logical reasoning but because of his possessives and entitlement. He would use it as a way to punish Rafael not only for refusing to join the pack but also for having bonds outside the pack.

He could see all of this coming a mile away. A perk of not being bogged down by the cliques and teen drama. He could put the pieces together to a puzzle most people didn't even realize was a puzzle. Which was why he could put together that scenario of likely events.

The only wild card in that scenario would be Hope Mikaelson. She had always been a wild card that made everything unstable. He barely saw how she interacted with other people which made it harder to predict what she would do.

But she had skin in the game because of Landon and because of it she'd find a way to get herself in the council. Most likely by bullying Alaric to make her a council member because of her tribrid status. He wasn't sure how she would vote but inevitably it wouldn't matter. Landon already had 3 votes to go the addition of hope would either make it 4/5 or 3/5. Either way not really good odds for Landon staying.

It seemed everyone had skin in the game but him. He stayed out of it and he listened. Like he always did. It's why he always saw the domino's fall into place faster than anyone else did. His insight gave him premonitions based on logic and probability. It was easy to tell who had entered his domain today.

Footsteps were large and rough. Easily male. The pace slow and unsure. Heart rate wasn't racing but it was easy to notice it was elevated. He wasn't afraid, he was lost not knowing exactly where to find Duncan until the moment he saw the barn and then started heading towards it still cautious. He was new to the school. That left one of 2 options either Landon or Rafael coming to him on behalf of Landon. Rafael was the obvious choice since the footsteps indicated a larger person and nobody at the school would talk to Landon. While someone might have told Rafael where to find him but didn't give him good enough directions.

"Hello?" Rafael asked looking around unsure if Duncan was there "Duncan?" he still looked around.

"You shouldn't be here." He replied from his position on the second floor. Twice in two days, the third would be a pattern. A pattern he successfully avoided for 4 years so he wasn't exactly happy to have this conversation and in his mind had finished it long before Rafael had arrived.

"I know Eric told me not to bother you." Eric Mercer a younger Vampire with a big mouth "But he also told me you're the only one that could help me. He said 'you're the only one that could make Jed do anythi…"

"I can't make Jed vote for Landon to stay." He cut him of speeding up the process of their conversation.

"But…" He tried to protest

"There are rules." He cut him off again and descended from his position on the second floor. Twice in two days. He landed directly close to Rafael, The first time he had gotten real good look at the guy. Duncan had half an inch on the guy or less because they were both at looking directly into each other's eyes. Unlike Josie he didn't shift back or get into a defensive position the moment Duncan had dropped down. He flinched but that didn't discount his bravery.

"You've been here less than a week so I excuse you for bothering me once." He could see the fire in his eyes. Rafael was about to retort to show he wasn't afraid of him but Duncan quickly let it be known he wouldn't be interrupted. He showed Rafael the fire in his own eyes. His eyes flashed yellow and Rafael slightly stepped back but kept quiet. "The rules are Wolves stay out of Witch business, Witches stay out of Wolf business and Vampires stay out of everyone else's business. Then a balance and a peace is maintained. The 3 factions can fraternize with each other with minimal hostility. Within the Wolf faction another balance is maintained. I stay out of pack business, the pack stays out of my business and Hope stays out of everyone else's business. I can't help you. Not without throwing the whole entire balance and peace out of the window. But ask yourself this how much is Landon worth to you?"

"Landon is my brother I don't care about this schools social order or its balance. Just help me to get him to stay." Rafael pleaded with Duncan

"The social order will always maintained as the rules will be." He responded adamantly and he could see the fire in Rafael's eyes again. Patience wasn't Rafael's strong suit. Duncan understood, Rafael had just triggered the werewolf gene which made their rage and anger reach higher heights and became more uncontrollable. Not hearing what he wanted made Rafael pissed. Before he could say or do anything Duncan's eye's flashed again cowing the other werewolf. "There is way to get Landon to stay without my interference." He was surprised when Rafael didn't interrupt him with a redundant question. The kid was learning "You challenge Jed for the alpha position. You win and the wolves will vote for you to be on the honor council. You lose which will likely happen since your still newbie and Jed didn't get that position by winning a popularity contest. You will be an omega. The bitch of the pack. If you think it's bad now at your current position? Wait until you're the bottom of the food chain. So ask yourself again how much is Landon worth to you?"

"Like I said he's my brother." That was all the justification and reasoning Rafael needed. His loyalty to Landon was worth everything. An admirable trait.

"Then were done here." Duncan turned around and went back to his position on the second floor and Rafael took the message and headed out of the barn "And tell the rest of them…" He heard Rafael pause "In case the message wasn't clear before leave me alone."

Twice in two consecutive days. That was same amount of times he would be bothered in a year and the semester started last month. Rafael and Landon were making waves and rocking boats ever since they got there. Those two were trouble and it would be harder for him not to get involved this year. Somehow some way he would be dragged into all of it because of those two. It wasn't a logical or probability inspired premonition this was intuition.

* * *

Somehow some way they did it. They got him involved and they didn't even know it. He could stop himself. Pretend he didn't see anything or come up with some crackpot theory on Rafael that explained everything away. But it had been gnawing at him ever since the vote.

A newbie wolf doesn't just beat an alpha. It was more fact than assumption. That would be more than an upsetting victory. The tides had shifted and he was wrong. Rafael had beat Jed. Maybe that's why it had been gnawing at him. He couldn't stand to be wrong. So he started grasping at straws like a mad man trying to find a complex answer to justify being wrong instead of accepting the simple answer that they were wrong.

But he wasn't a mad man. Then again how could he tell? What he could tell was Rafael beat an Alpha after being a werewolf for less than 10 days. Hours after their fight Rafael still hadn't healed fully. That was what kept gnawing at Duncan. That was what kept his feet moving forward even as the battle raged within himself. With every step his curiosity winning against his predisposition of staying out of all of it.

He arrived at her door. The final moments where he could walk away and not get involved. The moment he knocked on that door it would be all over. He wouldn't fool himself with the notion that if he asked her for a favor he'd be dipping his toes in the shallow end and could walk away from it then. The moment he knocked on that door he was lined up for the deep end. But he knocked anyway.

Moments later she opened the door, for a brief moment she was smiling until she realized it was him. She pulled back. Not as an invitation for him to enter but out of shock. Her big blue eyes showed nothing but confusion. Like a deer freezing in a headlight moment.

"What do you want?" she asked turning her head and crossing her arms the moment she came to her senses.

"I need a favor Hope." The admission felt unnatural and even more painful than the first time he had turned. The rest of the conversation would be the same. He could have asked Miss Tig for help but that would prolong the suffering in later sessions. At least with Hope he was upping his chances of walking away unscathed but more importantly she didn't know everything.

"Come on in" She invited him after moments of deliberation. She had lost her hostility the moment she realized she had the upper hand instead she replaced it with an air smugness. He wasn't sure if it was because of the Mikaelson blood or the Labonair blood that coursed through her veins.

He walked into her domain and she directed him to sit a chair whilst she sat on her bed. It was common for students to share a room with another student. But she had one all to herself, he'd hold it against her if he didn't have a room to himself.

"I need you to…" He tried to speed up the conversation.

"Hold it right there." She cut him off gleefully with a satisfied look on her face. That made it all the more painful to have this conversation. "I'm enjoying this!" Her smile widened "Mr. High and Mighty comes down from his Ivory Tower and graces me with his presences to ask my lowly self a favor. I have to savor it." Her melodic voice reverberating in his ears. Every decibel feeling like a jagged knife stabbing his eardrums. His jaw clenching with every single word she uttered. "Say it again." She began mouthing 'I need you'

"I need you to do me a favor Hope." He grudgingly said automatically "That's the last one." He said seriously. He was done with the ridicule and humiliation. The smugness left her and her big head was deflated. She went back to normal or her approximation of normal. Whenever the two talked she was always at 2 extremes either hostile or smug.

"I need you to run a lineage spell? No questions asked and keep it between us." He asked her finally getting into the thick of things.

"Say the magic words." She threw another verbal jab trying to humiliate him.

"Please." He replied automatically. He hadn't suffered the humiliation of asking a Labonair for a favor only to be stopped by a petty roadblock. But she seemed disappointed at how fast he responded.

"Okay but I'm going to need a blood sample of his." She responded trying to be clever.

"Theirs." He corrected her "No questions asked." He reminded her as he stood from his chair and walked towards her

"I wasn't trying to ask a question." She lied weakly.

"Yes you were, but here's their blood." He said dropping of a cloth that had Rafael's blood on it.

"It going to take a few minutes." She started some incantations with the cloth beginning to levitate.

Duncan went back to the chair. He didn't need to breath down here neck that would do nothing but distract her. Instead he sat down a watched her work. His mind began studying her like it did everyone one when he had nothing better to do. This might have been the first time he'd actually looked at her up close. Usually it was from a far or in passing with momentary glances before he carried on with whatever he was doing. Now she was less than 10 feet away from him and he had nothing better to do while she had her eyes closed and was concentrating on the spell. He watched every breath she took. The rhythm she had as she breathed in and out.

The mythical tribrid. Part witch, part vampire and part wolf. The Labonair with Mikealson blood. From the day he had arrived at the school people had always been afraid, mostly because Lizzie Saltzman spread rumors about her exploding an orphanage. They could have been true but he never put any stock into those rumors. Later they learned to fear her because she was a Mikaelson. Those that didn't fear that part of her feared her tribrid nature. He'd known all of that the first day he'd meet her, long before the rest of the school had found out and it never scared him. He'd known what she was for the longest time, but he never knew her. He heard people pose theories on why the lone wolf and the tribrid never got together. He never dignified that with a response. But he knew why.

"Stop staring." She said breaking him out of his thoughts. Her eyes were still closed and he couldn't tell if they had been always closed or she took a peek.

"Are you done?" He asked still staring at her try to regain his bearings.

"Almost but stop staring." She answered with her eyes still closed.

"Sure." He agreed deciding to find the bookshelf on the other side of the room more interesting. Even without anything better to do he knew better than to snoop through a girl's room. He began to go into another trance this time with random thought crossing his mind.

"I'm done." She announced breaking him out of his thought again.

"And?" He prompted her.

"Who is he?" She asked trying to break their agreement. It was her face that piqued his interest as she asked the question. It was a desire to know identity of the person she had cast the lineage spell on. A desire that almost transcended and reached levels of need. That confirmed there was more to Rafael but he need to know more. He needed to know if he was right.

"Who are they?" He corrected "They are a person of interest to me, who will remain unidentified. The deal was no question asked and you keep it between us. What would you rather have? Me owing you one or the identity of the person." He gave her the ultimatum, that wasn't really a choice.

"Fine!" She reluctantly agreed "I ran down their linage and as close as I can tell are a direct descendant of the Paxon Wolf Pack." And there it was his suspicions were proven true. A newbie wolf just doesn't beat and alpha. Unless the newbie was a direct descendant of one of the 7 original wolf packs

"How direct?" He asked.

"The last alpha of the Paxon Wolf Pack the school has on file was Arthur Walsh. The lineage spell showed that they are descended from Arthur Walsh." She answered back.

"Thank you" he said getting up from the chair. He had what he needed and he didn't have to remind Hope about keeping their deal. She seemed dumfounded as he walked towards the door on his way out "Goodnight Hope." He said opening the door before it quickly shut.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you're so interested in this person?" She asked with her hand still up from the spell she was casting to block of the door.

"No."

"Are you ever going to tell me who the person is?"

"No."

She wasn't pleased with his answers but before she could go to protest he shot her a look, he couldn't cow her even if he flashed his eyes she was the only wolf he couldn't do that to. But he was able to stop her momentarily.

"I know." He looked in to her eyes with an intensity that made her understand, he knew everything she was going to say all of the arguments and counter arguments she would try to launch. He knew and she understood. "The answer will be the same." He brought their conversation to a close.

"Goodnight Hope." He said again walking towards the door and successfully making it out.

"Goodnight Duncan" She replied before he closed her door and headed to his room.

He wasn't going to sleep that night. Not with what he had learned. His isolation and lack of involvement was now a pipedream. 4 years he had managed to survive that school without having any skin in the game. All because Landon Kirby stole a knife.

If Landon hadn't stolen the knife, none of the monsters would be attacking the school, the honor council wouldn't be formed, Rafael wouldn't have challenged Jed, He wouldn't have noticed Rafael's slow healing, He wouldn't have gone to Hope for a lineage spell and everything would be the way it was supposed to be.

But Landon did steal the knife. Now Jed was deposed as the alpha by Rafael, Duncan owed Hope a favor and Duncan knew Rafael was a direct descendant of The Paxons.

There were only 3 living descendants of The Paxons. One was waging a war on another a continent. The other was the latest alpha of the Salvatore boarding school. And the last one was staring at the ceiling of his realizing that this might probably be the last time he saw the dominos fall before anyone else. This was his final puzzle. He had crossed the river Rubicon and was swimming in the deep end.

Now he didn't just have skin in the game he had family.

* * *

 **AN** : I have been a fan of TVD and TO from the very beginning. Although I have my problems with Legacies, it inspired me to write this fanfic which is a cannon divergent series starting from the 2nd chapter which will follow the 6th and 7th episode. With this chapter I didn't want to change much from the original show so my oc had a limited role, just recounting some of my own thoughts about the characters. In this fanfic I will be delving deeper into the werewolf community cause the show has barley given any of the wolves love.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Following the events of episode 6 with a small twist on things. from Hope's P.O.V.

"Obviously, nothing's gonna come out of it." She lamented "I mean, I may never see him again and nobody wants a phone thing. Though I do like the sound of his voice. It's low and smart-sounding and kind of soothing. And his eyes…" She could picture them now "His eyes are, like this green-gray color that's not really a color you know? Like, they're green when he wears green, and then… Oh, my god. Who am I right now?" She wondered cause it felt like she was rambling on and on about Landon but it caused Emma to chuckle.

It had started with her telling Emma about what happened between her and Landon. It was the best part of the previous night. It was also the only thing she could talk about with Emma without breaking her deal.

"A normal teenager? Though I do love hearing you talk about something as simple as having a crush on a boy."

Is that what she had she wondered? It felt more like a crush but also less like a crush she had only known him for less than 2 weeks and most of that time she spent hating him. But through it all he had remained sweet. She'd also known him two years ago. But she didn't actually know him since their interactions were limited to her ordering smoothies and him bring them to her. She wasn't exactly sure what feelings she had for him but she knew she had feelings for him.

"You do not need a counselor Hope" She checked her phone because of the text she'd gotten "You need a friend." Emma told her as she promptly ended their session heading off to where ever the text had summoned her to.

Hope was left there thinking about what Emma had said. Emma was wrong, she didn't need a friend. But she could use someone to talk to about Landon.

When she thought of her prospects for friends, her list was dismal with only one name on it. Josie. And she couldn't bother Josie on her big day so she was out of the running. That left her with an empty list of people she could possibly to about Landon.

Without any possible prospects she thought of the impossible prospects. Lizzie was automatically of that list. The only person she could talk to about Landon was Rafael. He was Landon's foster brother. Granted he wasn't exactly her biggest fan but if she could bury the hatchet with him she'd have someone to talk about Landon with.

* * *

She found him on the steps that lead to the second floor classes, trying to give orders to the other wolves.

"All right, let's get the rest of these chairs and tables and get 'em out of here. All right." The wolves were obviously reluctant to help out but he nudged them by clapping his hands and saying "Let's go, let's go."

"Perks of being an alpha." She said causing him to turn around confused and when he saw it was her. He barely acknowledged her and kept moving towards a table.

"Bunch of people you get to boss around" She said following him.

"More like a bunch of shadows waiting to be told what to do." He had acknowledged her but he still looked like he would rather do anything else than have this conversation with her

"Who put you on party duty?" She asked try to make small talk. It was hard to find something to talk about when the other person was an unwilling participant

"I volunteered. What do you want? I'm busy." He expressed his annoyance.

"Listen Raf, I know you're mad at me for sending Landon away, but…" He dropped the table on the ground out of further frustration and turned to face her "I promise you, it was for his own good."

"You've known him for two minutes, and you know what's good for him?"

"I know that I want him to be safe." She told him honestly "I just came here to apologize and thought maybe if… I don't know, if you needed someone to talk to…" He still seemed uninterested "Whatever." She said walking away. She wasn't going to hold him hostage by talking to him

"Actually" He said stopping her in her tracks "Um… I do kind of need help with something." It seemed everyone wanted something from her. She hoped this request wasn't as complicated as the last one "There's no fancy parties and grand ballrooms where I come from. I need to know what to expect for tonight." She was touched by his honesty and modesty. It was a trait she appreciated "I don't want to let Lizzie down." That however she didn't appreciate.

"Who cares what Lizzie Saltzman thinks?" She asked.

"I do. I'm her date."

Whatever points he had one himself with her had almost been lost the moment he said those words. She thought better of him, than to be going out with Lizzie. She looked at him with a wary eye. She had misjudged people before and it often ended in disaster. She had a right to be cautious. But the longer she looked at him the less cautious she was. He was still showing his honesty and modesty. The look he gave sort of reminded her of Landon. Like a cute little puppy dog that knew it did something wrong.

"Okay." She said after a moment of deliberation. With Landon in her mind she decided to help. "Fine. Meet me at the gym once you're done here."

"Thank you." Rafael said with smile.

* * *

They had meet up at the gym like they were supposed to. Raf had his pack clear out so she could help him out in private.

"So the MC will then announce Lizzie and her escort."

"Her what?" He was thinking of the other kind.

"Kind of like at a debutante ball." She tried to explain to him.

"I grew up in foster care."

Her explanation had failed so she moved on to a different approach.

"Okay. Well, they had stairs didn't they?" She directed him "So you're gonna meet her halfway down."

"How do you know all this stuff?" He asked.

"One of my aunts has been around for more than a thousand years." She proudly told him. Her Aunt Rebakah had spent the last 10 years of her life instructing her on how to be a proper lady "This kind of thing is her jam."

"So, what, I just stand here?" He asked sarcastically as she walked down the stairs.

"Then you take her arm." She outstretched her arm and kept the forearm at a horizontal straight level. Like a proper lady. He was unenthused by the whole thing. So she had to force him into action by grabbing is hand "Sort of like you're putting yours on top. Yeah like that. And then you descend together." They walked down the stairs together.

She was amused by the whole entire thing which left a smile on her face. She turned to face him and the smile he had on his face looked like he was suffering from Stockholm syndrome. He turned to face her and when their eyes meet it brightened her smile while he chose to look away.

When they reached the center of the gym, she let go of his hand.

"And now you bow." She said as she curtsied

"Yeah, you're messing with me."

"You think this is bad? You know it's only gonna get worse. Lizzie Saltzman has been planning he sweet 16 since she was five." She was letting him know what he was in for. "You probably should've thought twice before asking to be her date." She felt bad for him and should have saved him before he made a deal with the devil. Maybe there was away she could still save him.

"Well, I didn't ask her. All I know is that I can't let her down now."

"Why." She asked. There was more to the story and he was trying to keep it from her.

"Because I slept with her, Hope." He confessed.

She heard the words come out of his mouth. She knew what those words meant individually. It was when she tried to understand what all of those words meant that, she didn't understand. Her brain was failing to process the information.

"Okay let's not talk about this." She said to his relief.

She still hadn't properly processed what he said, but those 5 letters caused a combination of anger and disappointment within her. It began to gnaw at the back of her mind while she went on autopilot. She had started teaching him how to waltz but her mind was occupied with what he had told her. For the first time since the previous day her mind wasn't occupied with Landon, Duncan and the Paxon wolf she ran the lineage spell on.

"I can't believe you slept with Lizzie Saltzman." She expressed her disappointment the moment she had truly processed it.

"Look I was mad and she was there." He gave a lame excuse trying to justify himself.

"Hmph." Every point he had ever earned with her was now out the window.

"I didn't say I was proud of it." He gave another flimsy justification.

She'd expected better from him. And because of it their rhythm had been thrown off. So she tried to take the reins of it.

"You're leading." He protested.

She kept on doing it forcing him to spin her around until he pulled her back and they came face to face. She looked into those brown eyes which looked remorseful. But she didn't care.

"You're officially a gigolo." She said in an effort to hurt him. Which caused him to pull away and chuckle.

"Thanks for this." He sarcastically bowed and did that thing where he would try to act amused when he was actually bothered. "I guess I'll see you at the party?" he asked rhetorically. Still trying to sound like a nice guy.

"No. You won't." She answered back anyway.

"So, what, you're just gonna stay in your room alone while everybody else is out having fun?" He asked like he was actually concerned.

"Yep, works for me." She answered confidently.

"Bullcrap." He said calling her out.

"Everybody needs a crew."

"Kind of ironic coming from the reluctant alpha." She said calling him out.

"Okay, well, the pack is one thing, but a crew is a crew. You know what? I had that in Landon until you sent him away." He brought it up again.

"We're back to that?"

"I'm just saying. It's one thing to be cool being alone and it's another to want to be the lonely girl on purpose." He said taking a personal jab.

"As opposed to Mr. Good Guy, who's taking a girl that you don't even like to her own party?" She shot back with her own personal jab that hit him harder than she expected.

"You know what you're right." He said after a moment of contemplation.

"Lesson learned." He said instead of comeback. He was acting amused again this time he decided to walk away and headed for the exit. She didn't bother stopping him as he walked away. But something else did "The hell?"

She walked over to see what was going on and pushed her hand until it was blocked.

"Barrier spell." She told the confused Raf "Fantastic."

"Sorry, kids. Nothing personal." Penelope announced her presence.

"Let us out of here, Penelope." She commanded.

"You'll be free in an hour." By then the party would have been long underway which caused Raf to let out an exasperated breath "Plenty of time to practice that waltz."

The two were stuck in the gym until an hour had passed. He turned to her without knowing what to say. It was the second time he had tried to storm off and now he was stuck in there with her and no way out. So that was the first thing he did. He tried to find a way out. Though he'd fail.

After a couple of minutes of failed attempts he had given up on trying to get out solo.

"So you can slay a dragon but you can't get us out of here?" He asked breaking the fourteen minute long silence.

"Only Penelope can undo the spell. Or the twins could siphon the magic." It was moments like these that made her regret limiting her powers.

"Well, that's unlikely, seeing as Lizzie probably thinks I'm standing her up right now."

"Her ego could use a little bit of deflating." Her family was filled with ego maniacs but none them could compare to Lizzie.

"I'm not that guy, okay? I don't just forget about people." He said with enough resolve and conviction to confuse her.

"Relax. It's only been 12 hours." She was surprised about him almost forgetting her. She wasn't sure if it was because Raf was that kind of guy or Lizzie was that bland at it.

"It's not that!" He exclaimed "Look it has only been six weeks since…" He couldn't finish his sentence. It was too painful.

"Your girlfriend died" She stepped in and finished it for him "Cassie." She added.

She could guess that Cassie crossed his mind frequently. But she wondered how many times he had said her name with all those feelings of pain and guilt attached to it. She wondered how many time he said her name. Because year later Hope couldn't say her mother's name without them.

"It's crazy but I feel like… like I cheated on her or something. So if I can do right by Lizzie maybe that can…"

"Then what? It'll exonerate you?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Nothing could ever absolve you of the guilt you feel from causing the death of a loved one. But he didn't know that.

"Look, Raf, you went through something awful, and it's right to mourn your girlfriend, but you can't pretend to like Lizzie to make yourself feel better. That's not doing her any good, or yourself." She tried to make him see reason.

He had heard what she said but he chose to walk away. He didn't even pull his amused act. It was too serious for him to pretend otherwise. He just walked towards the exit and sat next to the barrier.

She stopped looking at whatever points he'd had or lost with her. Those weren't important right now. She walked over, to sit opposite him. She wanted to say something comforting but she worried it might make him combative. She had an unintentional knack of polarizing people. With Lizzie they were always arguing or take shots at each other. With Rafael they always seemed to end up arguing. The same with Duncan when he was in one of his more talkative moods.

"One more minute." She announced looking at the clock. Over 30 minutes had passed and she still hadn't found the right thing to say to him but she decided to take a try.

"Raf I didn't just send Landon away. I sent him to someone who's gonna help him find his birth mom." She told him as a peace offering.

"You sent him away by himself. To find the woman that gave him up."

"What if she's amazing, and he finally gets a family?" She tried to reason with him.

"He had a family. He had me."

"A crew isn't the same." She wouldn't know because she'd never had a crew but what she did have was family and that she knew.

"Family is always and forever." That solemn vow that had kept her family together for over a thousand years.

"Yeah, you're right. He's not my blood, but he is my brother. If anything, maybe you should try doubling down on friends to make up for the family you don't have." He responded.

She knew when he said it, it wasn't meant as a slight. He was just trying to advise her. But he didn't understand family.

"Time's up lonely girl." He said after looking at the clock. He stood up to go fulfill his obligation of being Lizzie's date.

As she sat there by herself she thought more about what he said. Blood doesn't make people family. Her and Marcel proved that. They weren't blood related but he was her brother. She realized in that small aspect he understood family better than she did. Then she realized why that was the only aspect he understood better than her. It was the only aspect he knew. He spent most of his life in the foster care system like Landon and probably didn't even know his own family.

The only family he had were the bonds he made.

As she played back their last conversation in her mind she realized even though they argued with each other. They came to an understanding. The hatchet wasn't buried but at least it was in the grave. In time maybe they could be friends.

She wasn't going to replace the family but she would take his and Emma's advice. She already had Josie as a friend, and might have Rafael on that list. Which made her think of other people with an axe to grind that she could bury the hatchet with. There was too much baggage between her and Lizzie to bury the hatchet so Lizzie would stay out of that list for the foreseeable future. Then she thought of another person she could bury the hatchet with.

* * *

She walked through the woods headed to the one place other than his dorm where he would be while there was a party going on. Like most of the students at the school she had avoided this neck of the woods for nearly four years now.

She was here long before the barn was built. Back then it wasn't often that she'd find herself in that general area. But ever since it had been built. Everyone from the school including her had become persona non grata. There were even rumors going around school that the faculty also weren't allowed here. But like most rumors they were false.

She had finally reached her destination and walked into the barn. She could her a heartbeat so he was obviously there. When she entered the barn she didn't go snooping. She'd come to bury the hatchet, not to aggravate him.

"Duncan come out." She spoke looking at the balcony. Moments passed and nothing happened and she was about to speak until she heard.

"Are you calling in your favor?" He asked his voice coming from the second floor. He was never one for idle chit chat.

"Yes!" She responded. And a moment later he was landing in front of her. She wondered how many people he had startled with his theatrics. Then she remembered nobody ever came here.

"What can I do for you?" He asked immediately.

He had that same look of disdain he always had whenever he talked to her. For other people he gave them a look of apathy and indifference. But he always reserved that look disdain for her. And he'd had it for as long as she had known him. Long before the truth about her came out and some of the school joined in on the looks of disdain.

She heard people pose stupid theories why the tribrid and the lone wolf never got together. It was just people trying to ship the two outcasts together so she never dignified those questions with a response. But she knew why. It was because of looks like the one he was giving her.

Soon enough she hoped to put an end to that look from him.

"I need you to be my date for Lizzie and Josie's party." She answered. Which shocked Duncan. She could tell because he had switched his look if disdain with one of indifference.

"Why?" He questioned.

"I'm trying to offer an olive branch." She answered.

"Then Lizzie Saltzman's party isn't the way to go about it." His voice was low and deep. Annunciating every single syllable.

"I know but instead of me staying in my room and you staying here. I thought we could go out and have fun like everyone else." She said remembering what Raf had said. It caused Duncan to do something she had never seen before. He chuckled even if it was very lightly and what she thought was his approximation of a smile.

"If I were you I'd save that favor as an ace in the whole and pull it out for something serious." He said turning around like he was done talking to her.

He wasn't taking her seriously and probably thought it was a joke. Maybe she should have taken that small victory and walked away. If she did it would probably be the first time they had a civil conversation and she had managed to make him chuckle. She wasn't sure if she should take it as an accomplishment since she's probably the only person to ever make him chuckle. Or take it as an insult because he wasn't taking her seriously. What she was sure of was she wasn't walking away.

"But you're not me. And I'm calling it in now." She said causing him to stop in his tracks "We're going to go to the twins' party." He turned to face her with a look of apathy "We might not have the time of our lives. But what we will have are civil conversations with each other and everyone else. Which means small talk and any kind of talk that doesn't end with you walking away or saying 'Go away' or something along those lines." Hope laid down the conditions of her favor.

To anyone else it was a simple favor but to Duncan Grayson it must have been the hardest thing for him to do. It was hard for the both of them. Hope had spent most of her school life isolated either because people believed the rumors Lizzie spread about her or because people found out who her family was. Duncan was different he could have been a part of the pack. The one community that fully opened its doors to members of their kind. But he chose to be alone. He wasn't ostracized but he alienated every single person at the school.

Who better for her to break out of her shell with than the only person with a shell bigger than hers?

"Okay." He agreed after seconds of deliberation. He didn't exactly have a choice.

"Good! Come pick me up from my dorm room, in half an hour. I need to go change. And you should change too. It's a party." She instructed him as she headed off to go change.

"Sure." He responded without any hostility.

* * *

Just as they had agreed upon. He showed up at her room 30 minutes later in suit. He even said 'Hey'. He even tried small talk by asking how her day was. But every time he spoke it felt unnatural. She gave him points for trying nonetheless.

When they were headed to the party. They were sidetracked by Ric who needed their help. The moment she heard Josie was in trouble she picked up a shovel on her way to find her. He followed suit with a shovel of his own. They were both silent trying to listen for Josie. Her hearing was better than his but she still couldn't hear her.

They came across a noise in the woods but it was two people talking. Penelope and MG. They ignored the two and went ahead still trying to listen for Josie.

"Oh, my good. Hope Mikaelson and Duncan Grayson. Two werewolves in one day Hope." Penelope taunted as they walked by. Which caused her break her stride.

"No time for bitchty banter." Hope replied taking up her stride again. Duncan was ahead of her because he never broke his stride. Which caused her to move faster to catch up to him "Duncan wait." She told him after a second of contemplation. Which caused him to stop

"Actually" She turned to Penelope and MG "We could use your help finding Josie."

"What happened?" Penelope lost her merry disposition the moment she heard Josie's name

"Apparently, her possessed biological mother buried her alive in the cemetery." She explained

"Were coming with you." MG said accepting the call to action. Spinning the axe he had in his hand. Penelope went after a shovel that had been laying on the ground picking it up.

And with that the party of four went out in search for Josie wielding shovels and an axe.

"MG, listen for her breathing." Hope told MG. He had the best hearing out of all of them.

"Hold on." He said after a moment. "I think I hear something"

She could hear it too but it didn't sound like breathing.

"Shovel?" He asked with an open hand. And Duncan traded him a shovel for his axe. MG walked over to a grave and started digging.

A hand burst out of the ground grabbing MG and pulling him down. And a corpse rose from the grave pulling MG closer. For a moment she froze, trying to process what was going on. That moment wasn't long and before she could jump in to action. Duncan was swinging down the axe right on to the head of the corpse. The corpse stopped moving was he swiftly pulled out the axe from it head. Without it moving MG got out of its grip and stood up.

"To kill a walker, you got to go for the brain." MG explained to them.

Hope heard something else and it seemed Duncan did too.

"Just call it a zombie." Penelope responded to MG.

"Zombies. Plural." Hope interjected when the sounds she heard became louder and she could see more of them rise from the dead.

"I hate Zombies!" Duncan stated before launching himself and decapitating another Zombie. The rest followed his lead trying to kill the Zombies with their shovels

"Whoo! One down." MG announced after thrusting his shovel into a Zombie's face.

"This isn't a game." Duncan chastised him whilst killing his 5th Zombie.

"He's right. Penelope and I can handle the rest you two go find." She ordered them.

"Right. Go it." MG replied speeding away with Duncan running behind him cleaving through the Zombies that got in his way.

"How do you want to do this magic?" She asked Penelope when they were alone.

"I say we DIY it and pretend its Lizzie Saltzman." She replied swinging her shovel at a Zombie. Killing it.

"Works for me." Hope joined in on the cathartic experience.

Even in the chaos of killing the Zombies she could hear Duncan tell MG "Listen harder and focus on the sound of a heartbeat. It will sound like someone banging on drums"

Hope and Penelope had no trouble finishing of the remaining Zombies and headed off to meet up with Duncan and MG. As they approached she could her Duncan grunting as he killed more Zombies, protecting MG while he concentrated.

"I got her." He announced when they reached them. He speeded away to go find Josie this time hopefully he was right.

"Go ahead." He told them still killing the Zombie's that were left.

There were less than a dozen zombies left but he seemed like he had things handled. So she and Penelope moved on headed after MG.

They found him digging for her with his bare hands. They got closer to him and tried to help him dig but a hand rose from the ground. She felt relief wash over her when it wasn't a decayed hand. MG grabbed on to her and pulled Josie from the ground, who started hyperventilating. Hope was even more relived to see she was wearing her gift.

"The talisman it worked."

"What's it supposed to do?" Josie asked still panicked.

"Make quite things heard." She answered. It was her gift to the invisible girl that stuck caring for her self-centered twin.

Josie grasped the talisman. Whilst the others finished their thanks and prayers.

Duncan approached them still holding the axe that had black blood all over it. Some of the blood had landed on his suit but that wasn't the only damage it had on it. It was ripped from at the chest and an arm was torn. His face showed nothing but annoyance and contempt.

"You didn't get bit did you?" MG asked once Duncan got closer and everyone noticed him.

His response was a glare that sent MG ducking behind Penelope for cover.

"I'm hitting the showers." He announced before dropping the axe and heading in the direction of the boys dorms.

She realized he could have just left without any of them noticing. He could have heard Josie in the distance and walked away. Instead he chose to make his presence known and say his parting words. He chose to be civil.

Soon enough once they had gotten Josie to calm down. They walked Josie to the dorms so she could take a shower. The two stayed and waited for Josie while she went on to alert Ric that they'd found her.

* * *

After her chat with Ric she headed to the lounge and set next to the fire place. She was cold from spending most of her night out in the woods with nothing but a dress on. She thought about the events of her day. Calling them a roller coaster ride would be an understatement. She had many lows but at least she the highs showed her, she had something to look forward to.

"Hey." Raf said bring her out of her thoughts.

"Hey." She responded.

"Rough night?" He asked after a moment of looking her over.

She looked at herself and saw she was still wearing the dirty dress she had on when fighting the Zombies. And realized she must have looked like hell.

"Um…" She chuckled "No. All evidence to the contrary. I actually had a lot of fun." She answered "What about you?"

"About that…" sat on the table facing her "I was straight with Lizzie." He admitted to her. Sure it was a dick move to do it on Lizzie's birthday but he earned all the point he lost with her and then some.

"Well, um, I own have my own Avengers squad." She bragged to him causing them both to laugh.

She was obviously the leader of that squad, Josie was the heart, Penelope was the lancer and MG was the smart guy. She wasn't sure were Duncan fit into all of it, because she wasn't exactly sure where she stood with him. Since there was a spot on her list. Rafael could be the big guy to fill out their five-man band.

"You want to see if I still got it." He stood offering his hand to dance.

"Why not." She gladly took his hand as he led her into an open area of the lounge where they could dance more freely.

She'd never gotten a chance to dance that night since she was busy saving Josie. And it was nice as the two swayed in rhythm even if there wasn't any music playing. They kept their eyes on each other both smiling.

"You look like you took a bath in dirt." He joked.

"Oh, thank you." She responded.

"You're welcome." He responded causing her to giggle.

"No actually you wouldn't believe the night I had. I um… decided to take your advice and tried to make some friends…"

She began to explain to him how she ended up forming her Avengers squad. They ended up talking for a long time even after they stopped dancing. Just the two of them talking about anything and everything. She didn't have to wonder where she stood with him. They were friends. And she had successfully buried the hatchet with him.

* * *

It was late in the evening. When she'd taken her shower and changed out of her dress. And was taking a breather from the exhausting day that she had. She heard a knock from her door. She may have been tired but she was still smiling.

When she found him on the other side of the door like he had been yesterday. She was surprised. Unlike the other night she didn't pull back out of shock but she still froze. She didn't expect to see him just like the other night. He had changed out of his ripped suit and into his more casual clothes. Which consisted of either black or grey athletic wear.

"Hey." She responded once the initial shock had worn off.

"Hey." He replied which seemed to come out unnaturally for him.

"Come on in." She said inviting him in, assuming he wanted to talk.

"I'm here about our deal." He said the moment she closed the door. "I wanted to know where we stand. Since we didn't make it to the party." He said looking her directly in the eyes.

He had a partial look of disdain. But that was the norm for him at least he was trying to hide it this time. She thought that the look had something to do with what he thought was a sword looming over her head that she could snap at any moment.

"Forget it. I was just trying to offer an olive branch by wasting the favor on a menial task." She said confusing him. "And the whole entire point of it was, to try and bury the hatchet and maybe have some fun." She added happily His face switched from disdain to indifference.

Whenever the two talked. He always either at two extremes with her. Indifferent or disdainful. One which he seemed to be with everyone at the school and the other. It was only ever with her.

"Thank you." When he said it. It didn't sound sincere nor sarcastic. It didn't even sound unnatural coming from his mouth like when he said 'Hey.' Or when he tried small talk. It sounded robotic and mechanical. More like a formality than anything else.

Although his face showed indifference his eyes told a different story. Those dark brown eyes that seemed to show nothing but contempt and disdain every time she looked into them.

"Good night Hope." He said with another formality before walking away. He always seemed to do that. When he had said everything he needed to say and was done with a conversation. But she wasn't done.

"Duncan wait." She said grabbing his arm why he tried to leave. He turned to face her

"I wanted to know where we stand." She had managed to bury the hatchet with Rafael, but if his eyes where any indication they still had bad blood. But she wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.

"We go back to business as usual. I stay out of your way and you stay out of mine." He replied.

"Why do you hate me so much?" She finally decided to confront him. For years the 2 had always seemed to be at war, with his stupid rule of non-interference as a way to keep the peace between them. Years she spent never questioning why she hated him. But now that she had offered an olive branch to bury the hatchet. She wanted to know why. Why he saved that look of disdain for and no one else? Why her? Maybe if she could figure out why, they could find a way to be friends

"I don't hate you Hope…" He said with enough conviction to almost convince her but he didn't.

"It's funny when you say that, but every action you taken over the past 4 years shows the contrary." She replied thinking about how he had treated her over the years.

"I'm sorry that you got the notion that I hated you." He said sounding condescendingly. Like it was her fault or mistake that she thought he hated her. "But I never did. I don't even know you and I'm not the type of person to hate someone I don't know." He said justifying himself.

It was something he had never done before. He'd always said things bluntly with no apology or need to vindicate himself. It was then that she realized he was right he didn't know her. And she didn't know him. Maybe she had always taken his actions to personally. But he made it known perfectly clear when he said.

"But I also don't plan on knowing you. If you ever held the notion that we could be friends. You were wrong. We will never be friends. But I doesn't mean I hate you. I thank you for the favor and the peace offering. But that's the end of it for us. It's business as usual." He said slightly wounding her.

"And what if your business doesn't stay my own?" She asked.

"It won't." he replied

"Your business has an unknown Paxon wolf roaming around."

"You're a Crescent. Paxons won't bother you."

He was partly right the Paxons and Crescents had a peace pact for years. But it was built around her parents. They were the only one that could keep them in line. Without them the treaty was on unstable ground.

"Yeah, but were there a Paxons war will follow shortly." She replied.

"The same could be said for Mikaelsons." He said taking a persona jab at her.

She wanted to take a personal jab at him, but she didn't have anything on him. It was moments like this that made her realize she didn't know a single thing about him besides his name. The enigma that was Duncan Grayson.

"What are you even doing getting mixed up with pack of wild animals like the Paxons?" She shouted trying to demystify him. Maybe if she knew why he had getting involved with Paxons she could at least know one thing other than his name or that he was a loner.

"It's none of your business." He said through a clenched teeth infuriating her even more.

"And what if I say it is!" She said raising her voice. As she got closer to him.

"it's not." He said raising his voice. As he got closer to her.

"Yes it is!" She raised her own higher than his.

"I'm done with this!" He said trying to make another attempt to leave but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back leaving them face to face.

He stared into her eyes. They weren't dark brown anymore and she realized hers weren't blue any more. They were both golden yellow. He stared deeper into her eyes. Like a challenge to see who would blink first. And the deeper he went into hers. She went into his. She could almost see something other than disdain and contempt. It was like she was at the door way to understanding the enigma. But before she could open the door he pulled away from their gaze.

"Before we continue the shouting match in the middle of the night. Let's both calm down." He calmly said trying to sooth her. And it worked their eyes had returned to their natural color "The Paxon wolf won't be a problem or a danger. I can promise you that." He assured her without actually answering anything

"And as for everything else it goes back to normal. Were done here. Unless you want to keep arguing" He asked her.

She shook her head, because she thought if she said anything it would aggravate him further. Or she couldn't control the urge to shout at him.

"Good night, Hope." He said walking out of her room. She didn't stop him this time. Like he said that was the end for the two of them. Now it was business as usual.

He wanted the two of them to be done so they would be. She'd follow his rules. She'd stay out of his business and he'd stay out of hers.

It seemed her and Duncan had too much baggage or not enough of it to bury the hatchet. Though she hadn't buried the hatchet with him at least she buried it with Raf. 1-1 wasn't bad when she looked at it as have full.

She could do that now. She had friends now. Plural. She had her own Avengers squad. So things for her were good. Better than they had been in years. She wasn't going to let Duncan take that away from her. So after getting over it. She went to bed that night with a smile on her face.

AN: Just to let you now, I won't be posting this frequently. And episode 6 was my favorite episode of the season so far. I liked the foreshadowing of Hope and Rafael together. Cannon-wise those two are my favorite ship from Legacies. Fanfic-wise I am still undetermined on who is going to end up with who. I will not heavily feature the Saltzman twins, but I will try to keep up with the cannon material. That is all thank you for taking the time to read my fanfiction.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** a break between ep 6 and ep 7 of legacies.

* * *

For the first time in a year she had something on him. Ms Tig never brought up his past because she knew he wouldn't talk about it. Now she had something that was happening in his present. The session had gone the route of their usual sessions. Obligatory greetings to silence. But the shoe would drop when she asked the question to try and engage. He wasn't one to stare at the barrel of a loaded gun and hope it wouldn't shoot. He was tired of waiting.

"Go ahead and ask." He said breaking their 17 minute long silence.

"Ask what Duncan?" She asked a with self-satisfied smile. He had lost the upper hand and couldn't claim indifference when he broke the silence. She knew what he was talking about but she wanted him to say.

"You know. Alaric told you."

"The head master tells me a lot of things. But that doesn't meaning I know everything. So what are you referring to?" she asked still feigning ignorance.

She was trying his patience and he was never one for games. So he stared at her more intensely communicating he wasn't going to play those games, without ever saying a word. She understood and lost her self-satisfied look. But she was still smiling. She still had the upper hand.

"Fine." She said giving up her feigned ignorance "Why were you with Hope Last night? Wearing a tux and she a dress."

"We were headed to the party." He answered broadly.

"Why." She asked for further explanation.

"She thought it would be fun." He answered truthfully. But that wasn't the answer she was looking for.

"You've never been one to be coy before Duncan. You know what I was really asking. Why were you headed to the party with Hope?" She asked more clearly.

"She asked." He answered to an unsatisfied Ms Tig. "She wanted offer an olive branch. I accepted." He answered vaguely. But she could tell there was more to the story.

"Why was she offering an olive branch?" She asked directing the conversation to Hope.

"She thought I hated her."

"Why would she think that?"

"You're reaching." He said calmly. She was grasping at straws trying build a straw house.

"Forgive me. It's not often that I can talk to you about something. Without you replying with either one worded answers or silence. However it is nice to hear you're making friends."

"We're not friends." He said correcting her. He didn't have any friends. Not anymore.

"I thought you put your grievances behind you."

"She offered an olive branch. I accepted. It's what you do when someone offers you an olive branch. But that doesn't make us friends. And it's not because I hate her. I don't. I don't even know her. And I don't plan to." He went on to explain. Ending it with a definitive statement. He was done talking about it.

"Your lone wolf tendencies are growing unhealthier." She commented. She knew better than to try and force him to talk when he was done.

"I know."

"I also wish you would talk more. Without me having to force your hand."

"I know."

"Then is there anything else you would like to talk about?"

"No."

The unofficial end of their session had come and the silence washed over them until the official end would come. Once it had come Duncan headed off to his next class. Skipping a class or 4 although frowned upon by the faculty wasn't a big deal. It was when you skipped more than 4 lessons a week without a reason that they took it seriously. He had already used up his 4 and he wasn't in the mood for a chat with Alaric about his attendance.

* * *

Fighting the zombies the other day had proven one fact to him. He wasn't powerful enough. By the end of it he had killed 27 zombies. MG had killed 9. And by his estimated count Hope and Penelope had killed a combined 25 zombies. Which objectively were good numbers in his favor. He had 27, MG had 9, Penelope had an assumed 12 and Hope had an assumed 13.

It was when you added context to those numbers that it showed. He wasn't powerful. He had an axe while the others had shovels which gave him the combat edge. Hope and Penelope had chosen to forgo the easier path of using their magic and used melee combat. A witch and a tribrid that barley used their lycanthrope enhanced powers. He held the combat advantage over them because they were holding back. They still had a combined 25 kills.

MG spent most of his time focusing on listening for Josie whilst Duncan defend. He held the combat advantage over him because, the weak newbie vamp was preoccupied. MG still managed to get 9 kills.

There was even a time when he had been left alone to deal with nearly a dozen zombies whilst the others went to rescue Josie. When you subtracted the dozen zombies. He was left with 15 kills. 2 ahead of hope, 3 ahead of Penelope and 6 ahead of MG.

Despite all of his combat advantages he was still in the ball park of his peers who were holding back and otherwise distracted.

Which was why he was ripping through his muscles as he hit the punching bag with a right hook. The bag flew back like a pendulum and as it returned. He fluidly moved his right arm back as he made a left jab connecting with the bag on its way back. Sending it on another journey. He continued the fluid exchange of his right and left arm adding in kicks. His form perfect as a combination hit, struck the bag every time it came back. Each time ripping through the muscles in his body.

He thought he had grown stronger over the years. But if the night before was an indication he was a long way from getting back home. And not being a burden.

With each hit he put in more force than the previous one. Trying to push his limits to be stronger. Exhaustion and fatigue hadn't hit him like that in a long time. Because he had become complacent. Sure he trained every day but not to his hardest. Another detriment to his progress was the lack of a teacher or at the very least a sparring partner. The bag allowed him to strike with his maximum force but it was to stationary. If he were to go home. He wouldn't be fighting things that stood still. He'd be fighting people. Unpredictable and fast.

The more he thought of home the angrier he got. The stronger his punches became. He was becoming feral again. Then he heard someone had already entered his domain. He hadn't heard them from a distance because he was do distracted by hitting the bag. But he did hear them the moment they got within 20 feet of him.

"Duncan." The person said announcing his presence.

He punched the bag one more time, with everything he had. In an effort to purge all the hate and anger within him. Talking to people with those emotions was a recipe for disaster.

The bag flew of the chain landing several feet back. But it didn't burst with sand staring to fall out of it. Instead it contorted, folding around the dent his right arm had made with the last punch. The punching bag was made of metal. Because the metal ones were more durable.

He turned to face Rafael. As his eyes went back to their natural color of brown. Inhaling and exhaling loudly. Due to the exhaustion he had gotten from hitting the bag. And to calm himself as the embers of rage died out.

He stared at Rafael who seemed dumbfounded by the V-shaped punching bag several feet back.

"It's made of metal." Duncan explained nonchalantly heading to pick up his towel. He wondered why Rafael had come. After their last conversation he had assumed he'd have to reestablish contact between the two.

"Uh… Okay." Rafael accepted the explanation "I know you said you stay out of it. But I'm here on pack business."

"I hope this isn't about me joining the pack. The last couple of alphas of this school ended up in the infirmary when they tried to force me to join." Duncan responded informing Rafael what would happen to him if he tried to force Duncan to join. Raphael may had been family but he'd never be Duncan's alpha.

"No, this isn't about that. I'm not Jed. I wouldn't force people to join or stay in the pack." Rafael replied.

Then Duncan remembered that Rafael was new to all of this. He didn't understand pack hierarchy. Territory. Or the dangers of wolves without an alpha.

"That is a dangerous policy to have. One of the other wolves might take it as weakness. And usurp your new position."

"That's why I'm here. I only wanted this position because I wanted to help Landon… Now that's no longer an option I don't want it anymore. I'm no alpha." He said with pleading eyes.

Duncan could tell that Rafael wasn't just asking Duncan to help him find a way out. He wanted Duncan to take the position from him. When it came to Landon, Rafael was iron willed and determined. When it came to everything else he was just a reluctant participant.

"And neither am I." Duncan responded.

If he wanted to be the alpha he would have been since his first year at the school when he was a freshman. But he knew he wasn't leader material. Neither was Rafael. But he was better fit for the role than either Duncan or Jed.

"Then help me find a way to get out of it. Because I don't know what I'm doing." Rafael pleaded again.

Duncan began to weigh his options. Trying to find the best solution. If Rafael just abandoned the position. It would cause turmoil and chaos. With infighting among the wolves. And that would disrupt the balance. There weren't any other wolves with the inherent ability or strength to lead. And a weak leader was detrimental to any community especially a weak alpha. Rafael himself was also bad choice because he was right. He didn't know what he was doing.

"A true leader is not one who covets power but one who rules when power is thrust upon them. You may have only wanted to save Landon but now that power is thrust upon you. If you decline there will be chaos with the wolves and that would disrupt the balance. And as I told you before the balance will always be maintained. So I'll make you a deal. You don't know what you're doing. I can teach you and advise you to lift part of the burden from your head."

"But I don't want any of it."

"Too bad. You should have thought about that before you deposed Jed. To help your friend. Now it's your job and responsibility to lead the wolves." He tried to reason with Rafael, but he still seemed reluctant "Think about the next you that shows up. Or the next Landon that walks through the school doors. If you don't maintain the balance. Their lives will be a living hell and it would be all your fault." He said trying to guilt trip Rafael into doing the right thing.

"But there other guys in the pack that could take over. Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you're the one that fought for it, when you tried to get Landon to stay."

"What do you get out of all of this?" He asked "Me being the alpha and you advising me." He clarified further

"Despite me advising you. I get to stay out of all of it. The balance and the rules are maintained making my life easier. And I also get a new sparring partner." Duncan admitted which confused Rafael "You need strength to stay an alpha. And I myself need to get stronger. Going at it alone doesn't bear as much fruit quickly." He fully admitted

"It sounds like you're getting the better end of the deal."

"I am not going to piss on your leg and tell you it's raining. I am getting the better end of the deal. And that's because I'm not the one who wanted overthrow the social order."

"Fine. When do we start?" Rafael asked.

"Now." He replied flashing his eyes yellow before hitting him with a right hook that pushed him a foot back.

"What is it with you guys and sucker punches?" Rafael murmured getting up and wiping the blood from his lip. His eyes flashed yellow before he ran towards Duncan.

The two began fighting.

They were both direct descendants of the Paxons. Which made them roughly equal in terms of raw power. Which gave Rafael a fighting chance. But it was still clear who was dominating the fight. Duncan had already exerted himself from his previous workout. Which was the only combat advantage Rafael had. Duncan had everything else. Experience, training, height, weight and muscle mass.

By the end of their training both were bruised and exhausted but Duncan was left standing.

* * *

For over a week the two would meet at the barn to train and the outcome would be the same. The first couple of days were just Duncan trouncing over Rafael. Getting the other wolf used not only to getting hit but fighting people stronger than himself. As the days went on. Rafael was getting from the ground quicker, getting hit less, and firing back more. He was growing stronger. Strong enough for Duncan to hold back less. But there was still a significant difference between the two.

After their training session. Duncan would tutor Rafael on all he needed to be a good alpha. He added to the lessons Rafael was taking in intro lycanthrope. Adding in wolf customs new and old as well as wolf psychology and pack mentality. But with the full moon in a couple of days. Duncan was instructing Rafael on how to properly prep for it.

"Wolves under the effects of the full moon are stronger, faster and overall more dangerous. It is the one time a month when we are the apex predators. On pure instinct vampires are our choice of prey. But if there are no vampires around humans are on the menu. When the sun goes down all werewolves will be put in rooms in the cellar. To save not only the vampires students but for everyone's protection…" He tried to explain to Rafael.

"I know all of this." He said cutting Duncan off "It was like the first thing they told us after how excruciating the changing process."

"Okay. Well do you know what the death toll would be if a werewolf was loose within 20 miles of any other people." He said walking over to his duffel bag.

"No."

"North of 30 people. And that's if they are sparsely spread out. Which is why the school specifically made the rooms in the cellar. To make sure we don't get out. But for an extra layer of protection I'd advise you drink some of this." He tossed a bottle from his bag over to Rafael.

"What is this?" He asked opening up the bottle and sniffing it. His nose scrunching because of the fumes.

"Wolfsbane."

"Why would I drink this? Isn't this one of the things that could kill us?"

"It can hurt and weaken us. Not kill us." He said pulling another bottle from his duffel bag.

He poured a bit of the wolfsbane water on to his hand which started burning. He then drank a bit of it to show Rafael it wouldn't kill them. It started burning his throat as it went down. As if he had ingest lava. The pain searing through his body even when it reached his stomach. His face barley showed the effects the wolfsbane had when he ingested it. But the suffering he did show was enough to scare Rafael.

"Like I said. On the full moon we are the apex predators. And drinking this is just a contingency to avoid us getting on the loose."

Rafael more than any one had to be heavily sedated when he turned. Paxons were stronger than the average wolf. Especially on a full moon. They become far more savage than any other wolf. Duncan himself had better control of his wolf form. But he still drank the wolfsbane to suppress his strength. He wanted to avoid going on a rampage without a clear target.

Rafael attempted a sip of the wolfsbane but spit it out instantly.

"Are you kidding me I can't drink this." Rafael complained wiping of the wolfsbane with his towel.

"Don't worry. The pain from the change will block out the pain from drinking it."

"I already hate having to change. The last time I remember my skin burning like I doused it in boiling water. My bones breaking like a thousand time for over 6 hours." Rafael said dreading his second transformation.

"That's usually how it goes for your first time. But the pain and trauma won't last as long your second time. They say if you embrace the transformation rather than fight it. It will go by quicker."

"That true for you?"

"No. Like most werewolves the pain makes it hard for me to embrace it. Both the physical and emotional pain that comes with it. That's why it's called a curse. Once a month our bones breakdown and reform a hundred times over. Another drawback is we are a danger to everyone around which is why you have to drink this." He said waving the bottle of wolfsbane "Unlike some people you don't have the luxury of controlling when you turn." He said with a frown.

"You talking about Hope?"

"Yeah."

"What's the beef between you two anyway?" He asked curious. It seemed he and Hope had become friends in recent days.

"Why does everyone think we have bad blood?" He wondered if she still thought he hated her.

"I've seen the way you to throw each other mean mugging looks when you pass each other in the halls. And the fact that you got that look of animosity when I said her name. Why do you hate her so much?"

"I don't hate her. I barley know her." He wondered how many times he'd have to say it. "But if did have a problem with her all you'd have to do is look at her family. Her family tree is made up of the who's who of the supernatural world.

"Her mother was the hybrid queen of New Orleans. An alpha and a direct descendant of the Crescent Wolf Pack who were one of the original 7 packs. The Crescents are also related to the powerful witch that created the werewolf curse. The witch's mother would become the first of the Crescent clan. Her mother's side also happens to the least complicated side of her family.

"Her father's side is something else. Her father was born from the adulterous relationship between the alpha of the New East Atlantic Pack and the witch that created the vampire species. He was also a direct descendant of one of the original packs. And he came from a bloodline of witches whose firstborns were born with such immense magical powers they could rival entire covens. Along with his siblings they would form the original vampires that every other vampire is descended from. And because of his werewolf side he would become the original hybrid.

"When her father's hybrid nature was revealed. The patriarch of the original family found out about his wife's infidelity and started the war between vampires and werewolves by slaughtering most of the New East Atlantic Pack. He is where she and her family get their last name from. He was Mikael the destroyer.

"Her father along with her aunts and uncles were beings so powerful they believed themselves above mortal concepts such as good and evil. And have slaughtered thousands in the name of a vow of 'Always and Forever'. A vow that would later include their older sibling who was a firstborn Mikaelson witch. A witch that would later marry the last direct descendant of the Malraux pack. Another of original 7 packs.

For over a thousand years her family has been made up of the most powerful beings in the world. Their list of atrocities as endless as the sun rises they have seen.

Understand I don't have a problem with her because of what her family has done. Everyone at this school has family members that have left them a legacy of darkness. But I would never condemn a person for their father's sins.

If I have a problem with her it's because of what she is. A direct descendant of two of the original 7 packs with a relation to a third. The firstborn Mikaelson witch in over a thousand years. And the first vampire to ever be born. When you funnel all that power into one person it becomes more than dangerous. On the day of her death she will become the most powerful being in existence.

This school and her family are made up of focal points of power. But she's the most powerful one by miles. And the more powerful the focal point of power is. The more death, destruction and suffering they will bring." He knew better than anyone. He himself was a focal point of power and although nowhere near as powerful as she was. He had brought more than enough death and destruction to realize. Hope could bring the apocalypse.

His words had gotten to Rafael. Which kept the other wolf quiet as he thought. But it was too late to save him from being collateral. He had already formed a bond with Hope and his loyalty wouldn't allow him to distance himself from her in an effort to save himself. And there was nothing Duncan could say to persuade the other wolf. Even telling him about his Paxon heritage wouldn't do any good. Rafael was against caring or knowing about his biological family, feeling that they had abandoned him. And Duncan wasn't going to drag Rafael in the war the Paxons were waging. But sooner or later Rafael would be engaged in a war because of Hope. Which was why Duncan had been training Rafael. To give him the tools to save himself in the future when he jumped in the fire for Hope sake.

"Let's stop talking about her and get back to the full moon prep." He told Rafael, who respond by nodding.

* * *

The night of the full moon had finally arrived. Rafael had proven to understand Duncan's teachings as he was the alpha the pack needed for the night. Duncan had even seen him carry a water bottle of wolfsbane into the cellars.

Duncan like always got his own room in the cellar. Before the apex of the moon when he started feeling stronger he started drinking his bottle of wolfsbane. Like he had advised Rafael it was a precautionary measure.

A direct descendant of the Paxons in wolf form was far stronger than any other wolf. It could rival the strength of some of the most ancient vampires. That was the gift that paxon bloodline had given to the rest of the wolves. Strength.

A strength that would become a liability to a wolf that had no control of itself when it turned. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had broken out of a prison meant to hold him. Or the first time he destroyed a fortress meant to keep him out.

Unlike most vampire he bore no ill will to the vampire students at the school. He wanted to avoid slaughtering the newbie vamps or the witches if he couldn't find any vampires. Which was why he finished the bottle of wolfsbane.

He didn't fight the pain he started feeling when he was first transforming. Allowing his bones to break and reform. But it was the other pain that halted his process. The first pain was purely physical, with his skin burning and his bones breaking. The second pain was far more unbearable. It was purely emotional. It was when he felt the full weight of what he had done. The death he had to cause to trigger the curse. And the deaths that followed as the domino effect took place.

The physical and emotional pain began to blend in making the following 3 hours of his life an unrelenting living hell. He should have just let the emotional pain take its course speeding up the transformation process exponentially. But that was his punishment and atonement. Suffering the curse to its fullest.

42 transformations of suffering had come and gone. But he hadn't made things right. Not with the way he still felt. The only thing that would absolve him of his sin would be to go back home and finished what he started.

That was his only goal, end the war he had started.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Following the events of episode 7 from Rafael's P.O.V.

* * *

They asked him to write a letter to his lost loved ones for Remembrance Day. He wondered if the fact that he had to write one letter to a single person was a good thing or a sad thing. But seeing as that person meant the world to him it was the saddest thing in the world. She and Landon were the only people in the world he loved. They were a part of his crew. But she had passed away. Two months later and he caught himself think about her regularly. Despite everything that had happened in the past two months, all the Lizzie and Josie drama and the pack business.

It wasn't the letter she deserved, but it was the only thing he could write. He missed her and wrote about how much he still loved her. But it didn't feel like enough. Nothing he could say to her would never be enough. She wouldn't be there to hear it. And accident or not. It was all his fault.

"Hey are you okay?" Hope asked breaking him out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine." He responded weakly. In all honesty he was tired. Training twice a day and studying just as much was wiping him out.

"Well you don't look fine." She asked giving him a look that demanded answers.

"I'm just exhausted with everything going on." He confessed. He was too tired to hide. But most of all he never felt like keeping things from Hope "The pack, adjusting to the supernatural world and exams coming up."

"Don't forget your secret fight club with Duncan." She added.

"Can we not talk about it?" He asked hoping to avoid lying to Hope about Duncan. Hope had been badgering him about Duncan for days and what the two were doing. That was the one thing he did want to keep from her. Duncan had told him to keep their training private. More importantly he didn't want to get in between Hope and Duncan. It was the definition of in between a rock and a hard place.

Before they could continue their conversation something caught his eye as well as most of his attention. He stopped while also placing a hand out in front of Hope. He couldn't believe his eyes no matter how much he wanted it to be true. So he threw logic and reasoning to the wind as he called out her name.

"Cassie." He said bring her attention to him

"Raf." She responded killing any logic and reasoning he had left. She confirmed it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him.

"Cassie… isn't that you're…" Hope tried to ask but was cut off by the answer

"My girlfriend" He replied dropping his bag and rushing towards her to hug her. Leaving Hope behind him.

He embraced her tightly. Which she responded by hugging just as hard. A million thoughts and emotions running through his mind. He thought of the first and last time he had ever hugged her. He thought of the fact that if he were to have die right at that moment he would have died a happy man. The one thought that wasn't crossing his mind. Either because it got lost in the confusion or he out right chose to ignore was why she was there. All he cared about was that she was there.

Their embrace had lasted for minuets but it wasn't enough. It had felt like it lasted for seconds. But eventually they were torn apart. They had to get her cleaned up. He had given him his sweater and a cloth to wipe of her running massacre.

* * *

He sat with her in the memorial library holding her hand. While the other hand was at work. They sat in silence because he didn't know what to say. All of the hours he'd spent thinking of things to say to her. Seemed to have gone to waste because in her presence his mind refused to work.

"Uh Cassie. Is it?" Dr. Saltzman turned to Raf looking for some confirmation. "Cassie I'm Dr. Saltzman. I am here to help you." He said nervously. It seemed the situation was alien to him as well.

"I don't understand what is happening. Why am I here?" Cassie asked.

"I didn't know what to tell her." He confessed.

"Uhm. Well do you mind telling me the last few things that you remember?" He asked.

"Uh Raf and I were driving home from a track meet… The roads were bad. It was wet and then… Dark. And then I heard this voice telling me to open up my eyes. And then I was here."

"Okay. Well this is going to be really hard for you to understand. But… Those memories you have. Those are from two months ago. You were in a car accident."

Dr. Saltzman told her causing her to look at Raf. He couldn't hide the guilt from her. It was written all over his face.

"You didn't survive. And tonight you were… resurrected… From the dead." Those last 3 words hit her the hardest. Shattered something in both Raf and Cassie. For her finding out she had died and been resurrected was a whirlwind that caused her to hyperventilate. For him, facing her after what he did to her.

* * *

After a moment He and Dr. Saltzman helped pick up some of the pieces of Cassie's shattered world. They had led her to the principal's office, were Dr. Saltzman left Raf to pick up the rest of the pieces. And just like before a silence hung over them. Until she'd told him how cold she felt.

He knew he couldn't fix everything but he could at least fix that. So her left her in the office while he went to the kitchen to get her some tea. To warm her up.

"That's not a good idea." He heard Dr. Saltzman say while he was about to enter the office.

"I need to call my mom." Cassie responded defensively.

"I thought I asked you not to leave her alone." Dr. Saltzman said scolding him.

"She was cold. I got her some tea." He responded in his defense. And then he saw the phone in her hand "Oh."

He put the tea down while she put the phone down and sat on the table looking at Dr. Saltzman.

"Cassie this situation. I'm afraid it might not be permanent."

Raf walked over to her placing a gentle hand on her back. He couldn't imagine how she felt but he wouldn't let her face it alone. He was there for her.

"And I don't know how fair it would be to your mother right now to hear your voice."

"So you think I'm going to die again?" Cassie asked concerned.

"I think it's likely…" Dr. Saltzman responded bluntly. "I'm sorry. I understand that this is an emotional experience for everyone involved. And I will be here every single step of the way. Is there anything I can get you?"

"I'm hungry. I need a shower." She responded.

"That's not a problem." He said obliging her.

"And then I'd like to get to the bottom of how you murdered me." She said spitefully.

Of all of the absurd things that had happened over the past two months. Cassie thinking that he murdered her was the most unrealistic.

'You murdered me' those 3 words caused him a combination of overwhelming pain and guilt. Greater than almost anything he had ever felt. His heart broke thinking that that was what Cassie thought of him. She was the love of his life. The only girl he ever let in and didn't keep secrets from. He'd never hurt her.

* * *

He sat waiting for her to get out of the shower. Those 3 words bouncing around in his head. Occupying every thought in his head. He couldn't think of anything else without those words drowning out the other thoughts.

"This is for Cassie. When she's done in the shower." Dr. Saltzman came in holding some clothes. Breaking Raf from his thoughts but not truly.

"Thanks." He responded taking the clothes. Then placing them on the bed.

"You doing okay?" Dr. Saltzman asked concerned.

"My head keeps spinning." He answered. The 3 words still shouting from the background.

"Yeah. I wish there was something I could say to help. But having just been through this myself. I'm not sure my head will ever stop spinning."

Through all the commotion and emotion turmoil it brought about. Raf had forgotten that Dr. Saltzman had gone through something similar no less than a week ago. He wanted to empathize with the man but those 3 words still haunted him.

"She thinks that I killed her."

"Technically you did." He responded bluntly.

"It was an accident." He replied in defense. He never meant to hurt her.

"Doesn't make her any less dead."

He was right. It didn't matter what he meant to do. She died anyways. But she didn't have to.

"This guy that brought her back. Do you think that we can convince him to let her stay?" He asked. But really he was begging. She had died because of him and making sure she lived again was the least he could do.

"I'd like to help you out. But as soon as we figure out how to kill him. He's out of here. And likely her along with him."

"But then another monster would come. And what if it's worse than this one. Don't you at least think that we should think about keeping him around?" Raf tried to fight for Cassie's life

"I would rather spend a lifetime slaying dragons. Than have another kid at this school. Go through what you and I have just experienced at the hands of this creature." Dr. Saltzman had said all he needed to for Raf to understand.

He couldn't think of putting anyone through what he had just suffered. He knew most of the students at the school had deceased loved ones that could be used to torture them. He knew Hope would be vulnerable because of her mom and dad. And he'd never want to put her through that. Even Duncan probably had some on like that. Although he never talked about it.

"Look the only advice I can offer you… is to find closure… When someone is taken away from us too soon it can haunt us forever. Use this time well… Make your peace with her."

Dr. Saltzman left him to think over his advice. He thought of all the things he had wanted to say to her before today. Even the things he had written in the letter he wrote for Remembrance Day. But when they were alone. The words he wanted to say most to her were.

* * *

"Cassie I'm so sorry. Look I know it doesn't mean much… But I am sorry for my part in the accident." He told her speaking from the heart.

"It wasn't an accident Raf. And you know it." She responded spitefully. She didn't believe what he said.

"Why would you say that?" He asked dumfounded.

"Earlier, I couldn't remember anything. But when I was in the shower. Pieces stated coming back. I have an excuse to not remember. What's yours?" Her spite laced words cut him with every syllable.

"I do remember. It was… It was storming and it was raining. And the road was slick." He said still defending himself. Which he had seemed to be doing the entire day.

"And?" she probed.

"And I took the turn to fast. The one you're always yelling at me about…" He tried to go on but was cut off."

"But that's not why I'm dead Raf. And you know it." Her words still with spite.

"Cassie no. I love you. I would never hurt you." He said what every fiber of his being knew. He would never do that.

"I know that. But I'm going to sit here in your fancy new school. With that nice headmaster who cares about you. And helps you be your best werewolf self. And you're going to admit what you did." She said expecting a confession from him.

"I didn't do anything." He responded.

"Why did you take that turn too fast?" She continued with her accusation.

"I don't know" He responded.

"Yes you do Raf. Tell me."

"I didn't mean to." He tried to defend himself from the accusation.

"But you did. And you blamed it on the storm. But think! Think about what you did! Think about why!"

"I don't know." He replied annoyed by the accusations.

"Yes you do Raf you're lying…" It hurt him enough for her not to believe him. But the pain from actually calling him a lair was too much.

"I don't know!" He said exploding on her. Leaving the trey of food that he had brought to fly off.

It was hard to control his anger. His eyes had turned yellow but the moment he saw the fear in her eyes they went back to his natural color. He felt ashamed because he hadn't been able to control his anger. But the look she gave him was too much to bear. The fear had turned to conviction. In her eyes he was guilt beyond reasonable doubt. So he ran. He couldn't face her anymore and he was afraid of what he could do to her.

* * *

He'd run out of the room and headed towards the nearest exit. Fearing what he would do to any unsuspecting victim that would cross his path at that moment. At the beginning of the day he had counted a blessing that he didn't have to train with Duncan that day. But now he wanted to hit something and hit something hard. Duncan was the only person who could take the damage and deserved it.

As he ran the pieces of that night started to form in his mind. He didn't want them to but they did anyway. They distracted him from realizing he was running like a mad man. The only thing that got him out of his spiral were distant shouts.

"Raf! Hey Rafael! Rafael." Dr. Saltzman shouted chasing him. Until they had reached the outside of the building.

He grunted as the full realization of what he had done hit him. The lie he had been telling himself the past couple of months had been unraveled. He grunted in frustration choosing to stop running and face it head on. He turned around to face Dr. Saltzman ready to admit what he had done.

"It was my fault. I got pissed because I didn't medal. And then I thought my girlfriend was flirting with the guy that beat me. I got jealous and I picked a fight with her. And then all that… All that anger started building up. That stuff that I can't control. Dr. Saltzman. And then I started yelling at her. And then I took that turn to fast. And she's always telling me not to take that turn, that fast. And she was right. It wasn't the storm. It was me." He finally admitted out loud. For months he had been blaming the storm. But now he was taking responsibility for it.

"I killed her. I killed her Dr. Saltzman" He broke down crying.

"Hey." Dr. Saltzman walked closer to him and gave him a comforting embrace.

All of the exhaustion of the past months had gotten to him. Training with the pack and Duncan had drained him physically. Playing catch up on everything from the supernatural world to the mundane class work had drained him mentally. Then a million other things like leading the pack and Landon leaving drained him emotionally. Cassie had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

Dr. Saltzman's comforting embrace was what he had truly needed at that moment. It was the first time in his life he had ever been comforted by an adult. Even with his lack of experience in the matter he knew that this is how it was supposed to feel. Dr. Saltzman embraced him with non- judgmental and understanding. Dr. Saltzman allowed Raf the chance to be break into pieces.

* * *

After he had calmed down. Dr Saltzman had helped put back the pieces together. He'd had a dozen problems to deal with. Each draining him and leaving him exhausted. He wanted to deal with the heaviest and most painful load. He was going to take Dr. Saltzman's advice on making peace and finding closure. So he went searching for Cassie. He needed to tell her everything.

He found her in the memorial library searching through the book catalogue.

"There you are." He said grabbing her attention while he walked towards her. "Been looking everywhere for you."

"I was wandering… Snooping." She said looking around.

"I remember… I remember everything." He said coming clean.

"Let's talk about this somewhere else?" She asked.

"The room?"

"No. Somewhere with more sunlight."

* * *

He remembered that she had been indoors most of the day. So he led her outside. Ending up at the benches near the pond. It was a nice spot. Green grass, plenty of sun, a view of the pond and it was private.

He told her what he had remembered about the accident he caused.

"I'll never forgive myself for what I did to you." He spoke from the heart. Even if he did make peace with her the guilt would always be a part of him. The full moon would always remind him.

"I'm not trying to punish you. That's not why I called you out. I just wanted you to be honest with yourself about it."

He felt relived. When she told him that. It had sounded more like Cassie's than anything she had said the entire day.

"When I first got here. To this school. Uh. They told me that a lot of guys with my condition. They have a lot of anger that eats at them." He'd seen a lot of wolves like that. Especially Duncan he could almost feel the rage and furry that was hidden under all the apathy. Even Hope who was part werewolf had the rage.

"But I'm better now that I know what was causing it."

"Oh yeah. Then what was causing it earlier today?" She asked causing him to look down in shame.

"I knew that you would never hurt me. But that didn't mean that you didn't scare me sometimes… My point is. You have a lot of work that you need to do on yourself. And you still do. Werewolf or not."

He nodded in agreement. There was so much he needed to do and he didn't even know where to begin. Working with Duncan made him a better alpha. But not a better man.

She clasped his hand and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"I forgive you" She said partial absolving him.

He'd always carry the burden of his guilt. But with her words the weight got lighter

"Now leave me alone for a few minutes." She lightly pushed his shoulder away causing him to chuckle "I want to stand in the sun."

He looked at her and she smiled then he smiled. She stood from the bench talking a few steps towards the pond. She looked back at him trying to nudge him to leave her alone. He indulged her by standing up and walking away.

After a few paces he stopped and looked back. He saw her basking in the sun. He thought of saying something to her. But he didn't. This time it wasn't because he didn't know what to say. It was because he had said everything he had needed to at that moment. He decided to let her just bask in the sun.

* * *

Losing her the first time had almost destroyed him. A turn he had taken a thousand times and only took it wrong once. It was unexpected and random. She was gone too soon and he'd had so many things. He still had things he wanted to tell her. But the second time didn't destroy him. He knew she wasn't going to be there forever. Though it still hurt when she left.

The last time she had left him with a broken heart and a meaningless life. This time she had left him with a broken heart and a purpose.

"She told me she wanted me to be a better man. Can you help me with that?" He asked Dr. Saltzman for help.

He never made it habit to ask help from adults. Living in the system his entire life had taught him that. But he didn't have a choice. No one he knew could help him be a better man.

Landon wasn't around and he wouldn't have been that much help. Hope and Duncan were in the same boat. The two had major issues and baggage that put the kids in foster care to shame. At least Hope was trying to get through hers.

Dr. Saltzman had his own issues but he handled them better than anyone else. And he was the only adult Raf trusted. Which was why he was the best choice for the job to help him.

"I don't know but I'll try. I promise." Dr. Saltzman replied putting a hand on Raf's shoulder.

That was all he needed to hear. That was how he started to keep his promise to Cassie. Werewolf or not. He was going to be a better man.

* * *

Writing letters to lost loved ones was a lost tradition on him. He never saw the point in it. All of his apologies would fall on deaf ears. The dead would never give him the catharsis nor the absolution he sought. But he wrote the letters anyway.

It was always the same letter. 5 words addressed to the same person. I'm sorry I killed you. He'd never bothered to articulate the message in anyway. Nor shift the blame to any of the other parties that had a hand in his death.

It was his fault his friend died. He was a focal point of power. Death would always be a looming shadow that followed him and those closest to him.

The man he was hunting was one of the closest people in the world to Duncan. But Duncan didn't fear for his life. The man was no stranger to death. They were old friends. Considering how many time it had come for him only to be left wanting. Even the times it had caught. He had always found a way to escape it.

In time death would come for them and their loved ones. There was no escape. It filled his life with a constant gloom. It was these moments of levity he lived for. Where he put aside his anger and misanthropy. And found himself smiling or enjoying the comradery of others.

Duncan snuck up behind the man ready to pounce. He had stalked and preyed the man for over an hour. Waiting for a moment of vulnerability. The moment had finally come. He silently rushed over to the man on hopes of putting him in the sleeper hold and placing the stake behind his back.

His hopes were shattered the moment he tried to lock in the hold and found himself involuntarily flipping over and landing on the ground in pain. Before he knew it he was facing the barrel of a Beretta 92FS. The man was a supernatural hunter with powers roughly equal to Duncan's. But Jeremy was a seasoned veteran.

"And you're dead." Jeremy said humorously pulling the trigger of the empty gun. He extended his hand to help Duncan up.

"Got to admit almost had you." Duncan replied from the ground. Reaching for the hand.

"What is you about almost?"

"Almost isn't good enough." He repeated the words he had said a thousand times over. Almost was a conciliation prize that never gave him any solace.

"Yeah it isn't. If you had tried that on any vampire over the age of 12 you would be dead."

"I know." He conceded.

"But you're getting better. Far better than I expected you to get. You're not moving as rigid as before. You're anticipation of attacks is no longer stagnant. And you were even able to sneak up on me."

Even though Jeremy didn't have supernatural senses. It was an accomplishment to sneak up on him. The man had been trained to for years to gain the upper hand on all the supernatural creatures. He could have easily been the greatest supernatural hunter of all time. He had even passed on some tricks of the trade of on Duncan ever since he was a kid.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were training against actual people." Jeremy tried to imply.

Jeremy had always tried persuade him to train with living people instead of the metal heavy bag he used. But Duncan was always against it. He had even rejected Alaric's offer to train him. That was until he had seen how little progress he had seen going at it alone. But he couldn't tell Jeremy about Rafael.

"But you know better." He responded. If he had told Jeremy the truth it would have led to question he didn't want asked.

"Yeah I do. I also know you're life isn't sustainable." He finally revealed his intentions.

"So this is what has been bugging you the entire day?" The entire day he had gotten the sense that Jeremy was hiding something from him. But he didn't probe Jeremy because he was enjoying his day off. They came far and few between.

"At first was cutting you some slack. You were just a kid. Going through grief tacked on with triggering the curse. You had lost almost everything. So I understood when you shut the world out. I hoped in time you would find a way to keep going. But it seems the only road you're taking. Is down a darker and violent path."

"But I haven't done anything recently. No aggravated assaults or outbursts of anger."

"Yeah. Alaric called to thank me because you haven't put one of your classmates in the infirmary." Jeremy sarcastically replied "But that's not enough. You should be old enough to realize there is more to life than being the angry ball of hate that shuts everyone out. Isolation and indifference aren't good coping mechanisms."

"When you were my age. You were using drugs and alcohol to cope with everything."

"Not that pain and suffering is a competition. But when I was your age I had died like 5 times. Lost both my parents. My Aunt Jenna and Uncle John. And let's not forget the 3 loves of my life who died on me. But I never shut the world out. I opened myself up to friends and family that helped me get over the drinking and drugs. You on the other hand. You keep everyone at arm's length refusing to let anyone else in. Because you're scared that if they survive the calamities you cause. They might actual save you from you're darkness."

"Why now? Why choose this hill to die on?" He asked trying to change the conversation.

"You're sister's worried about you."

"Good to know she cares." He sarcastically replied.

He hadn't seen or spoken directly to his sister in years. She had always used proxies like Jeremy or Caroline. The only contact he had with her was the birthday card she sent to him every year. But that wasn't how you were supposed to treat the only family you had in the world. Which was why he had gone out of his way and made it an effort to talk to Rafael.

"You know she does. That's why she's trying to keep you away from everything… Things back home aren't getting better. It's no longer skirmishes. It's escalated to all-out war. Even the Witches and human factions are getting involved…"

"And she still keeps my banishment!" He exploded in anger. The reason behind his exile was a way to mitigate the situation. Now that an actual war had broken out. She had no reason to keep him exiled.

"The landscape is volatile enough. Adding you into it would make things nuclear. So yeah she's keeping your exile. For your safety and everyone else's." Jeremy defend Duncan's sister. Like he always had.

"I have my anger in control. I'm not as unhinged as I used to be." He said through gritted teeth.

"No you don't. You probably haven't even realized you're eyes are golden." Jeremy said making Duncan notice his eyes had changed. He calmed himself down allowing his natural eye color to return.

"You're still as unhinged as ever. And the only times when you're not an enraged Paxon is when you're indifferent to everything. But you can't be indifferent to your home or the people you left behind."

Duncan knew Jeremy was right. He couldn't be apathetic back home. He wasn't strong enough to be anything but a liability. Even more so if he couldn't control his rage.

"So what am I supposed to do?" He asked.

"You find a way to keep going. Because that's what we do. We find a way to keep going. That includes breaking down your walls and letting people in. You can't remain indifference forever." Jeremy preached.

"It will be a long while before my walls break." He responded adamantly.

"Not as long as you think… Like I said it's all-out war back Ireland… The Witches and human faction got involved. Your sister brokered an alliance with the witches to help fight against the vampires…"

The domino's fell into place. He knew where this was going and he wasn't a fan. The Witches back home would never help out of the kindness of their hearts. He knew what his sister had to do to gain the alliance.

"In return your sister would offer protection for the last heir of the Rhiannon Coven. She thought it would be best if you heard it from me." Jeremy said with a tone of caution trying to gauge Duncan's emotions.

Of course she did. Jeremy had always been her proxy and scape goat for bad news.

"Fiona will be hiding out at the school with you until things blow over."

"When will she becoming?" He asked wondering how long he had.

"She arrives in the morning."

* * *

 **AN:** Jeremy had always been one of my favorite characters of the TVD. And I know it's sort of a Mary Sueish trope to have an O.C. heavily connected to the cannon cast but I just wanted to do it. The next chapter will also take longer to write because I won't be basing it on episode 8 but it will be happening at around the same time.

Please R.R.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Following ht P.O.V of Raf and Duncan. This is happening while Hope is off doing her thing.

* * *

Growing up in foster care he was no stranger to violence. The older he grew the better he became at defending himself from everyone. He had never really had any training in martial arts. He was just a brawler. With his size and speed he wasn't exactly a lightweight. Added with his wolf powers he was a serious contender. But that didn't matter when he was up against Duncan.

Duncan was faster, stronger and more experienced. An overall better fighter than Rafael. Which was why every time they trained he barley hit Duncan whilst he would pick apart his defenses. When Rafael made a mistake he was swiftly corrected with a punishing blow. And that was often but not today. He hadn't gotten hit as much today.

"You're distracted." Rafael stated. They had been training 5 minutes and his ribs hadn't started hurting.

"So are you." Duncan shot back.

Raf had his reasons to be distracted for Duncan it uncommon. The guy was a goal oriented rage fueled machine.

"My girlfriend came back from the dead. What's your excuse?" He questioned.

"You're not the only one dealing with a ghost from your past." He replied.

His response surprised Raf enough to drop his guard which led to a vicious right hook knocking him a few feet back. He was used to getting hits like that so he didn't focus on the pain instead he focused on his curiosity.

"You have a past?" He asked still rubbing his jaw from the hit.

"Everyone has a past."

"Yeah, but I thought your past would've been being raised by literal wolves and taught not to care about anything because it is a weakness."

"Caring is a weakness. And a strength. An alpha that cares about his pack gains strength from it and…" Duncan said trying to change the conversation into a lecture.

"Skip the lecture and get to the ghost from your past." Raf didn't want to hear about the duties of an alpha or how caring was a weakness. He wanted a break and to know more about Duncan.

Everyone at the school had a story. Raf was the foster kid who never knew his real parents. Lizzie and Josie were Dr. Saltzman's daughters and the siphoning twins from the Gemini Coven. Hope was the magical anomaly born from the villains of most of supernatural history. But Duncan. He was just an angry loner with no past.

"It's a girl I used to know." He responded surprising Raf again.

If most people had said that Raf wouldn't bat an eye over it but because it was Duncan it was atypical. He had past. There was a girl involved. But the most surprising part was he actually talked about it. Duncan rarely ever talked about anything personal.

"Why does she have you distracted?" He asked wanting more information about mystery girl and by extension Duncan's past.

"She's transferring to the school today."

"Woow." Was all Raf could say as the plot thickened.

"Let's get back to training." Duncan said before Raf could ask any more questions.

Knowing Duncan that was all he was going to say about mystery girl and their past together. Duncan was never much of a talker especially when it came to the personal and Raf understood that. Which is why he didn't pry anymore.

And just like that they were both off to the races training again. Duncan had corrected himself being less distracted. But Raf didn't have that luxury. His mind was still racing with thoughts of Cassie, Hope, Duncan and the mystery girl. And just like all the other days before, when he made a mistake he was swiftly corrected. Duncan's favorite teaching method of trail by fire.

* * *

Dread had filled every step he had taken that day. Duncan wasn't a person who knew fear. Had he been asked the week before he wouldn't even know what fear was. But today they had been introduced and intimately acquainted. Every time he rounded a corner or walked in a hallway it had him wondering. Would this be the time they were reunited or would he have to continue with the fear and the anticipation.

Which was why he was actively looking for her. He had to conquer his fear and it was a policy of his to never stare down the barrel on a gun and hope it wouldn't shoot. He would face it head on.

Problem lied in he didn't know exactly where to look. He wasn't even sure he would be able to recognize her. What he did know for a fact was sooner or later he would find her or she would find him.

So he chose to go to the memorial library in search of books. He believed in training his mind and his body. So when the time came he'd have the knowledge and the power to achieve his goals.

When he walked into the library the first thing that caught his eye was MG's big afro. The second thing that caught his attention was the redhead next to him. He no longer had to question whether he would recognize her or not. The girl was Fi.

He saw her. She saw him. He froze. She didn't.

With the wave of her arm and an incantation under her breath.

"Fi." Was all he could say before he found himself floating. A powerful force had sent him airborne until he violently crashed against the wall in the hallway.

During his short flight his hyper awareness had kicked in and he saw it all. The confusion from MG's face along with all the other students in the library who were mixed between confused and intrigued. The face that he took note of most was Fi. Even with all the attention he put to it he couldn't accurately tell what she was feeling. Annoyance, anger, rage, fear and sadness. She wasn't anywhere near happy to see him. And he understood. It wasn't time.

* * *

His body was still bruised from the early morning training. It was his own fault for getting distracted while fighting Duncan. Thankfully he had supernatural healing although his always seemed slower than the other wolves.

He had to decide on whether to take a nap or head to the library to study. The nap gave him the benefit of rest and he could heal up faster but he really needed to get in as much studying as possible with exams just around the corner. Sleep called him but his grades were louder. So he chose the library.

Usually he would have gone for a study session with Hope, but she was M.I.A. he hadn't even seen her the entire day. Without her around it fully hit him on how few friends he actually had. Sure he had the pack but they only cared about him because he was their alpha. In reality he had a really small amount of friends. Because he slept with Lizzie after kissing Josie he had lost her as a friend. He even messed things up between him and MG when he slept with Lizzie. Landon was off trying to find his real family.

Other than Hope the only friend he had at the school was Duncan. And that friendship wasn't really defined, he wasn't really sure if they were friends or not. Although he was probably the closest thing Duncan had to a friend. The guy seemed to shut everyone out. Just like Hope when they first meet. Back then she was just the vengeful loner girl.

He had heard about how people used to ship Hope and Duncan because they were so similar. But there was a big difference between Hope and Duncan. There was more to Hope. She wanted to get out of her shell. She was the loner who wanted to be accepted. While Duncan that was all he was, the angry loner.

It was when he got close to the Library that he saw the angry loner flying out of it till he hit the wall. Leaving Raf puzzled at the display. He quickly leapt into action going to give Duncan some help getting up.

It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence for people to be flying around in a school full of vampire, witches and werewolves. What was surprising finding Duncan around the school during the day. He spent most of his time at the barn.

"Need a hand?" Raf asked extending his hand to Duncan, who was still sitting on the floor. Instead of taking his hand Duncan jumped up as if nothing happened.

"It's fine." He said still facing of at the library.

His gaze caught Raf's attention and he followed it to MG and the redhead girl next to him. She was also staring back at Duncan with a pissed of expression while MG seemed confused.

After a moment of intense staring between Duncan and the girl, while Raf was trying to put the pieces together. Duncan simply made a move to leave.

"Ah what just happened?" MG asked the girl next to him.

"It was nothing." The angry redhead responded with an accent he couldn't place.

Rafael then saw Duncan rounding the corner quickly as though he were fleeing causing Raf to chase after him to confirm his suspicions.

Forgotten were his ambitions of studying that day. He wasn't even going to get that far without Hope. The girl was super smart and made studying extremely easy when she was tutoring him. Without her he just switched his attention to the most interesting thing.

"Yo Duncan wait up." He responded walking after him, causing Duncan to slow down his strides. "Dude are you okay?"

"It's like I said I'm fine" He responded bluntly.

But Raf could see the guy wasn't fine, he was almost unnerved. Which was unsettling to see. Duncan was on the outside a stoic guy most of the time and on the inside he was angry like every other werewolf but worse. Unnerved was not a word he ever use to describe him. Unless.

"Is that the girl?"

"Yes." He said with another blunt response.

"What happened?" Raf asked still trying to put the pieces together. So far all he had pieced together

"Not here." He responded tapping his ears, reminding Raf that more than half the population at the school had supernatural hearing.

Duncan continued walking with Raf right behind him to find a more private place to talk away from eavesdroppers and potentially gossips. This self-awareness was probably why Duncan was mystery to most people. He kept to himself, didn't say much and gave of the general air of a stoic misanthrope. All in all not to be messed with. Which was why he also seemed to scare most people at the school.

Duncan had told Raf about how the barn was the most private place in the school. It was far away from any buildings or hotspots for the other kids at the school even faculty. The barn even had a privacy spell put on it making sure that no one on the outside could hear what was going on in the inside.

"What happened back there?" He asked once they had privacy.

"A misunderstanding." Duncan replied revealing practically nothing. Duncan continued moving through the barn.

"That led to you gaining the power of flight." Raf replied.

"That's usually what happens when you have a misunderstanding with a witch. You end flying up when they use their powers. I thought you'd understand. Considering." Duncan said implying something that threw him for a loop.

"Hold up considering what?" Raf asked confused at the accusation

"The whole Saltzman twins debacle." Duncan responded.

"That situation is complicated." Raf said in defense. He took full responsibility for what happened but it wasn't as black and white as it appeared on paper, it had some greys to it.

"As is mine." Duncan responded basically shutting down the conversation.

Raf really didn't want to get into his situation with the twins and it seemed like Duncan didn't want to get into his situation with the mystery girl.

Duncan then banged on a section of the wall with his fist causing a plank to get loose. After removing the plank he put his arm in and after jiggling his arm on the inside a piece of the wall fell down with strings attached that revealed a secret compartment. The compartment looked like a well-stocked liquor cabinet with the piece of the wall acting as a table.

He had spent over a month hanging around this place and he didn't even know the barn moonlight as a bar. It seemed the place had secrets just like Duncan.

"Drink." Duncan offered Raf while he poured himself a drink.

"Isn't it a little too early in the day for drinking?" Raf questioned.

It was 2 in the afternoon and their classes had barley ended an hour ago. It wasn't exactly Raf's plan to go day drinking.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase it's '5 o'clock somewhere'." Duncan said as counter argument as he finished of his drink and started pouring another one.

"Sure." Raf responded really having nothing better to do.

"I got Irish whiskey, scotch whiskey, Japanese whiskey and bourbon whiskey?"

"That's a lot of whiskey." Raf noted Duncan might have had a drinking problem if he stocked that much whiskey.

"It's the water of life, the only thing I drink." He punctuated by finishing another glass.

"Fine get me some Irish whiskey."

"Good choice." Duncan replied pouring the drink from the bottle he was holding. "It's from an 18 year old bottle from the Walsh distillery. A unique blend of 3 signature distillates matured in the finest oaks for nearly two decades." Duncan said passing the glass to Raf.

"What are we drinking to?"

"To our complicated situations." Duncan offered causing Raf to toast in agreement.

He wasn't really that much of drinker. Other than the occasional cheap beer at the average high school party or the cheap bottle of vodka his friends would buy he didn't know much about alcohol. But even from his limited knowledge he understood that alcohol that was over 10 years old was usually expensive. But Duncan was drinking liquor older than the both of them like it was water.

It was no surprise that the Duncan got drunk. What was surprising was Raf had gotten drunk too. He hadn't realized he was drunk until they started getting through their second bottle. Another 18 year old. It seemed the youngest bottle of whiskey that Duncan had was 12 year old bourbon. It made Raf wonder if that was how Duncan spent most of his time. Drinking expensive whiskey alone in the barn.

Halfway through the second bottle their loose lips started moving down the path of their complicated situations

"She kissed me to siphon some magic from me, and I thought we had a thing you know, cause other than Landon she was the only friend I had at the school. Then she voted to kick him out of the school. So I was seriously pissed. I get why she did it but it still hurt you know."

"I know man."

"Yeah so I was hurt and pissed, so I went to the gym to try and let of some steam. You know a healthy out let for my rage."

"Yeah. Been there." Duncan the functional rageaholic admitted.

"And when I get there Lizzie throws herself at me. She kisses me and tells me not to think about it. So I didn't and I slept with her. Which I really shouldn't have. But hindsight is 2020. Cause after that I had realized how much I had screwed up. Because now Lizzie thinks were a thing and Josie's going to think I was trying to get back at her by sleeping with her sister after we kissed. Then I tried to do the decent grown up thing by clarifying to Lizzie that it was a mistake. I was planning on doing it after the dance so that I don't ruin her birthday, but she kept trying to throw herself at me. Again. And I wasn't going to lie to her so I did the only thing I could do at that moment. I did my best to let her down while we were dancing. I wasn't exactly proud of myself for dumping a girl on her birthday at her party but I was content with it because it was the right thing to do. I later found out that night that their real biological mom had comeback from the dead and they had to siphon her magic basically killing her again."

"That's rough buddy." He expressed his sympathies while placing a hand on Raf's shoulder.

"Yeah. When I found that out it was heart breaking. And I had gone from a standard teenage dirt bag to an absolute monster. So I was seriously not proud of that. I tried to make things right the very next day but they had gone to Europe to be with their other mom and since then I haven't really had the chance to apologies."

"I'm guessing the rougher part is how."

"Exactly. How do you apologies for kissing one sister, then sleeping with the other. Then breaking up with her on her birthday and the same exact day her mother gets resurrected and killed again."

"That is one crappy situation."

"I know right." Raf said as he drank another glass "Speaking of crappy situations what's the deal with you and mystery girl?" Raf asked deciding to change the conversation from his past screw ups to talk about Duncan's. But the moment he brought her up his jovial mood seemed to change.

"Her name is Fiona." He said not really revealing much but a sorrowful look.

"Come on dude, I already told you about my horrible history with my ex-girlfriends, how bad can yours be?" Raf asked trying to lighten the mood.

"She wasn't my girlfriend for long." He morbidly said "But that's because I killed her best friend and put her entire family at risk." Duncan admitted.

Which shocked Raf but he didn't interrupt. Even with the liquor in thier systems it seemed like it was something Duncan was struggling to say.

"You know how before you get initiated into the pack you have to tell them about the person you killed. For me that person was her best friend and mine too. His name was Sean. He and I went way back, back to when I was just an overly aggressive snot nosed kid pissed at the world for whatever petty reason he could find. But Sean overlooked that and always saw past, he even made Fiona find me tolerable. Till one day out of the blue Sean picked a fight with me over something petty. And you know how that rage just builds up for an untriggered werewolf it always feels like you're a breath away from exploding. I tried to holdback pushing him away, but he kept coming and coming and coming at me. So when he came at me again I had to put him down. And he never got back up. That's how I triggered my curse and messed everything up. I had to leave home because of everything that happened and I ended coming to this school. Years later Fiona shows up at the same school causing the conundrum I find myself in." Duncan said forgoing the glass and drinking the scotch straight from the bottle.

Raf had always expected Duncan's past to be dark. People who came from good stable living environments and had great childhoods didn't grow up to be like Duncan. His antisocial tendencies and sunny predisposition could only be the outcome of trauma.

Raf himself had experienced trauma through most of his life living in the system. He had experienced his greatest trauma recently. Knowing his rage issues caused Cassie's death was still fresh in his mind though he was working on accepting and getting over it.

For Duncan it must have been a different kind of trauma. Killing your girlfriend in a car accident is far different from killing your friend accidentally during a fight. It was the personal touch that made it different. Knowing that about Duncan almost changed the way Raf saw him. He'd always thought of Duncan as indifferent on the outside and angry on the inside but underneath all of that rage he was just a kid the same age as Raf, who was still hurting.

* * *

Hindsight being 2020 he probably shouldn't have gone drinking the other day especially after they finished 4 bottles. He didn't remember what happened after the 4th bottle all he knows is somehow he ended up in his own bed at the end of it. Thanks to the supernatural healing factor he didn't suffer alcohol poisoning but he still felt sluggish from the other day.

He had resigned himself to studying in the library most of the day to make up for the loss time had made because of yesterday's detour. Hope was still M.I.A. and with no excuse he forced himself to study solo.

It wasn't that Raf was dumb or anything. He was just average when it came to books smarts. He preferred getting his hands dirty and working on things, which was why he used to have a part time job as a mechanic. He was really good at fixing things, maybe as a way to offset his more destructive tendencies.

But when it came to school he was a B+ student at best and a C student at worst. For regular classes, the extra-curricular supernatural classes where a different speed for him. Overall he was a decent student especially with Hope tutoring him in regular classes and Duncan tutoring him in the supernatural ones.

During his solo studying session he was approached by a girl. Fiona stood right in front of him which drew his attention from his book to the redhead. She was rather attractive. With her curly red hair, deep forest green eyes and a small dusting of freckles across her cheeks and nose.

"Rafael?" She asked trying to confirm his identity

"Yes."

"My name is Fiona" She said extending her hand for a handshake rather formally but he accepted the handshake "And it seems you're the man to talk to when it comes to the wolves." She said with an accent he concluded was Irish, which left Rafael with questions.

"The perks of being an alpha I guess." Raf sarcastically responded. He never really appreciated being alpha but it was his responsibility.

"I'm interested in information about one of your wolves." She asked rather innocently while sitting down at the table.

But he knew what she really wanted to know.

"Duncan is not one of mine." He bluntly responded.

"Nonetheless it seems you're the only one that's close to him. If you know about him and me. What has he told you about me?"

"Basically nothing. He isn't exactly a talkative person."

"Nor a friendly one from what I hear."

"I'm guessing he has his reasons." Raf said coming to Duncan's defense.

"Everyone has reasons it doesn't very well excuse them for their actions." She replied with an unsung accusation.

"Look I know what he did was messed up but you have understand when it comes to a werewolf sometimes it's hard for them to control their anger and sometimes accidents happen." In an effort to defend Duncan he almost seemed to be defending himself for his past actions. Like every other werewolf at the school triggering their werewolf gene wasn't exactly a malicious choice.

"Oh I understand perfectly. But the problems isn't just with Duncan being a werewolf it's what HE is that's the problem. I imagine you've realized he not like the other wolves. He is rage and hatred personified with no room for anything else. "

She was right about him. Had she asked him the day before he would have agreed with her fully. Wolves were generally angry people but Duncan always seemed to take it a step further.

"There is more to him than that." He replied causing her to scoff at him "All I'm saying is give him a chance to prove you wrong."

"You must truly be good person see the good in him if you believe there is more than anger to him. Or maybe you're just naïve. Be careful not to end up like the last guy had faith in him." She warned him getting up from the table "For your sake I hope you don't end up like him." She said before walking away.

Raf did not envy Duncan. He had gone through his own penance a few days ago. But at least he got closure. It seemed Duncan and Fiona were far away from any kind of resolution. Their open wound would stay open for the foreseeable future.

Raf decided to focus on his own life and not get involved in Duncan's drama. The dude wouldn't even let him if he wanted to. So he focused what he could control. His own anger to make sure he doesn't end up in a situation like Duncan's again. The pack which he was responsible for as the alpha. And his exams which were days away. So he went back on grinding hard, studying before he had to go handle his pack duties.

* * *

He didn't have access to his logic based premonitions. With Rafael and Fi both in play he had too much skin in the game and was bogged down by the teen drama he had always tried to avoid. Even without his insight he could tell she was coming a mile away and not because he heard her dainty footsteps.

Their original reunion had exactly gone as planned, because she wasn't ready. But it seemed she was ready now because he could hear her footsteps headed to the barn.

"Duncan?"

"Fi." He responded coming down the stairs.

Little Fiona Crowley had grown up. Her name while they were in supernatural witness protection program was Fiona Sommers. A last name she got from Jeremy, just like Duncan. He was named after Grayson Gilbert, Jeremy's father and she got hers from Jeremy's mother Miranda Sommers.

"You don't get to call me that. Not after everything." She replied still seemingly angry at him, and he understood.

"Listen I'm sorry…" He tried to apologies but she wasn't having any of it.

"No you had your chance to apologies, you had over 4 years. Now you listen. The only reason I'm at this school is because you couldn't keep your anger in control and started a war, so I want nothing to do with you. You have this pact on non-aggression and interference. And I just want the same. You stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours."

To be fair it had always been his plan. He didn't want to sully her with his darkness and the path it was going to take him on.

"You came all this way to tell me to stay away from."

"I came all this way because I wanted to look you in the eyes when I told. A curtesy you never seemed extended to me."

"And by the way do Rafael a favor and stay away from him. We wouldn't want history to repeat itself." She said as she walked out of the barn and presumably his life.

He didn't stop her. He wanted to but he didn't. He knew what they both needed.

She was right when she told him to stay away from Rafael. But it was his duty to make sure he had the tools to not just survive but thrive. And in the process of doing that it was also his duty to make sure his darkness didn't extinguish his light. Even with Rafael's rage issues he had a chance to live a good life. Raf didn't need to end up like Duncan or worse his father.

* * *

 **AN:** Pleas R&R


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** This is going to be a rather long chapter switching between Raf, Hope and Duncan. Takes place during episode 9.

* * *

"How long do you think it will be before the next monster shows up?" She asked realizing the urn might have glowed signaling the next monster.

"It's hard to say I've never actually seen an artifact glow before. Where did you hide the urn by the way?" Dr. Saltzman asked.

"I'm not sure I should tell you."

"Excuse me." Dr. Saltzman said shocked at Hope's insinuation.

"Isn't it safer if only one of us knows?" She responded clarifying.

"Well then that one of us should be the adult." He said playing the adult card again.

She hated it every time he tried to play that card. Like somehow she was just a kid who had no business doing what she was doing. But she had a counter to his card.

"Funny, because I thought it should be the one of us with high level super powers." She responded pulling her counter. "What do we tell everyone else? We should probably warn them before a cyclops crashes exam week."

"It's usually best to start with some form of the truth." He said striking a chord with her.

"What about those times when the truth is the one thing you can't say?" She asked facing her own choice on the truth.

"Are you sure you want to keep all of this from Landon. I mean I understand you wanting to protect him but..." Dr. Slatzman tried to go on a morality lecture. But Hope cut him off.

"He's been wondering about his mother his whole life. He finally meets her and she dies. If I can keep him from knowing what that feels like then it's worth it." She said in her defense.

Dr. Saltzman then gave her a sorrowful look like she was rationalizing it because of her past traumas. She sighed under the weight of his pity, and decided to go another route.

"Look it's my secret to keep. Dr. Saltzman please." She resorted to begging.

"Okay." He said in compliance.

"Thank you."

"The trick is to give everyone the right amount of information. Without giving away too much. We've been through this with the knife so it shouldn't come as too much of a shock. This is our chance to do things differently. More responsibly."

* * *

With the midterm exams the next day. Raf had barely gotten less than 2 hours of sleep before he had been woken up for a school meeting. It must have been important if Dr. Slatzman called a meeting at 2 am before the exams. So he dragged himself out of bed and led Landon to the dining hall.

"Yesterday I came into possession of another Malivore artifact. It was my hope to find a method of containment before it signaled another monster. But given the emergency meeting I have just called you can guess how well that went." Dr. Saltzman announced to a chorus of moans from the sleep deprived students.

"Yo do you see Hope anywhere?" Landon asked causing Raf to look around for her.

"But rest assured we are taking every precaution Sherriff Donavan has been kind enough to open the doors to the Lockwood mansion to us. So Mr. Williams and Miss Tig are now in the process of evacuating our students from the lower grades." Dr. Saltzman announced

"Why don't we just evacuate the damn artifact?" Kaleb asked.

"Well we are much more, well equipped than the world at large to handle the arrival of a monster. And once we know what we are dealing with and the problem is contained. Then we can reassess what to do with the artifact. If any of you would like to evacuate pleas talk to Dorian or Emma. However exam week will continue as scheduled wherever you are." Dr Slatzman caused another chorus of moans from the students. "I know. Sorry I can't exactly call the state accreditation board and tell them that we are canceling the exams because of monster. We will get through this. I promise. Try and get some rest. Good night." Dr Saltzman dismissed the school.

"Hope's M.I.A." Landon stated after they failed to find her at the dining hall.

"Yeah she's probably suiting up in her battle armor. Girl is basically Wonder Woman." Raf said as he chuckled. There were few people in the world that could claim to have fought dragons and gargoyles.

"Either that or she's realized she's made a mistake bringing me back here. Where I go Danger follows." Landon said deprecatingly. A side effect of the way they grew up.

"Uh my God. Come on bro now this one is not on you." Raf said trying to comfort his foster brother.

"I mean her being distant today, has got to have something to do with us waking up in a field with amnesia yesterday. Right?" Landon asked still insecure about his life.

"Look until one of you can remember how you guys got there I just… I just wouldn't think about. Look you're here. Think about the good things in your life instead of getting caught up in the bad for once bro." He tried to comfort him. Because he understood. It had taken him a long time to accept that things at the school weren't so bad. And he also knew it would be sometime before Landon saw the silver lining.

"Yeah." Landon said in agreement. As they hugged.

It was a new era for the foster brothers. Their pasts didn't have to define them.

"Yeah I'm a grab my bag and hit the library." Raf said deciding since he was already up he could get in a few more hours of studying before his exams. "I'll see you at breakfast in the morning."

"Yeah see you at breakfast."

"Aye Lan, I'm glad your back." Raf properly greeted Landon back.

He didn't have the chance to do it when he came back because of is pack duties and studying.

* * *

Hope had felt disconcerted when she entered her room and found another bed in it. It wasn't uncommon for students to share a bedroom. But Hope had been one of the lucky few who didn't have a roommate.

In the earlier years of her stay at the school it had made her feel like a pariah. That she couldn't even have a roommate. But as she grew older she learned to appreciate the solace the room provided for her. But now it seemed to have been invaded while she was away. At least the intruder had the decency not to displace too many things.

After safely hiding the urn she heard a commotion as the rest of the students returned to their rooms. She seemed to have missed the entire meeting while finding a hiding place for the urn.

She heard the door knob turn and open to reveal her new roommate. Hope had never seen her before. She was rather tall redhead who seemed surprised that Hope was in her own room.

"Hey." Hope said greeting the girl, even though she didn't appreciate having a roommate she was still going to act civil.

"Oh hey." She responded after processing Hope's presence "I'm sorry I was getting used to being alone." She stated echoing Hope's own thoughts. "Hi, I'm Fiona Sommers, your new roommate." She said in what sounded to be an Irish accent. Walking across the room to extend her hand for a handshake.

"And I'm Hope. Hope Mikaelson. With a K" She said clarifying her last name as she shook her hand.

Her last name was practically taboo in the supernatural world because of her family's legacy. But she wore it with pride because even though it had dark connotations it was still her father's name. But clarifying didn't garner that much of a response. The new girl must have been a real newbie.

"I know." She responded nonchalantly with a sweet and gentle smile.

That put Hope at ease. It had always been hard for her to make friends with people that knew about her family. She had always had to disprove people's deep seated biases against the Mikaelson family. Even the school's histories painted them in a bad light. It was a welcomed experience not to have to prove people wrong. But she had to set the record straight for the new girl.

"No, as in the original family. Like Klaus Mikaelson…" She tried to clarify even more for Fiona but was cutoff.

"Like I said 'I know'." Fiona said with a smile and reassuring hand on Hope's shoulder. "And I've learnt not to judge people for what their family has done. Now I'm just going to try and get as much shut eye as I can possibly get. Goodnight Hope." She said as she went to her own bed.

"Goodnight." She responded feeling a lot better.

She didn't have to try and win over the girl or preemptively get rejected by the girl when she found out who she really was. And she thanked God her roommate wasn't an obnoxious person. Fiona seemed like a kind and thoughtful person.

* * *

"Raf." Someone called out shaking his arm to try and get him awake "Hey." The continued bringing him out of his daze.

"Mhm. I passed out huh." He said causing Hope laugh. Studying while sleep deprived was probably not a good idea

"You're very cute when you sleep." She said confusing him.

"What?" He asked slightly shocked.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I thought you said…Uhm" Maybe he was still in haze and didn't hear her clear, because what he thought he heard was stupid. He yawned "You know what forget it my brain's fried." He said trying to get his mental faculties in order.

"Then maybe you should take a break." She brought his face to face hers and then she pulled his head in for a kiss.

At first he didn't know what was going on until she pressed her lips against hers. And almost on instinct without any thought he kissed her back. Because the only way he would kiss his brother's girl was if he wasn't thinking. It felt like a dream

"Where is it?" Terrence shouted angrily slamming in the book.

Waking him from his dream into his nightmare.

"What are you doing here?" Raf asked scared. The fear almost palpable in his words.

"Pathetic little punk. Where the hell is it?" He raised his voice even higher sending dread down Raf's spine.

"Where is what?" Raf asked shaking in his chair subserviently

"You know what I want." He angrily threw the books of the table.

"I don't know what you want. I don't know." Raf replied like the scared kid he used to be.

Terrence pulled out his old belt that took him down a painful trip down memory lane. With the sound of the snap he remembered the pain that struck down his body whenever he got hit by it. Terrence would always find some petty reason to use it against Raf. Sometimes it was because the dishes were dirty, other times it was because Raf had misplaced the remote. The most often cause was that Terrence was drunk and angry.

One way or another without fail Terrence always used to find an excuse to beat Raf with the same belt as a kid. When he was just 7 years old. Long before Raf could defend himself. Even now in the presence of that belt. Raf wasn't the alpha of the werewolves or the guy who could go toe to toe with Duncan. He was just the same weak defenseless kid.

"You know what I want." An Old lady dressed in black got his attention.

Distracting him as Terrence wound up to hit him.

"No, no, no!" He begged as the belt made contact.

The pain caused him to wake up from his nightmare still frightened. He tried to assure himself that what happened to him when he was living with Terrence would never happen. He was stronger now than when he was that scared 7 year old boy. But the memory and pain of the belt still lingered in his mind. It almost felt real.

He checked his arm to see the reddened surface of his skin as it slowly healed. Which concerned Raf.

* * *

He went to Dr. Saltzman to tell him about the possible monster attack. When he got there he found her and Dr. Saltzman having some kind of strategy meeting like a war council.

"Right this happened to you in a nightmare? Are you sure?" Dr Saltzman asked early in the morning.

"Look I know this sounds crazy. But I was studying and then I fell asleep and then I just started dreaming about…" His mind started to drift off, thinking about the dream before the nightmare.

"About what?" Hope asked brining him out of his thoughts.

"Um. Uh." He tried to think of a response, but he couldn't tell anyone about what he was dreaming "One of my old foster dads. He was in the library and he had this old belt that he used to use on me." He said still thinking about how scared he still was of the belt

"Do you remember anything else?" Hope asked setting of alarm bells in his mind.

He then realized she was asking more about his nightmare than his dream.

"Yeah there was this woman there two. She was wearing an… an old black dress and… and a veil. And then she told me 'You know what I want'. But…" He said not really knowing what the monster wanted.

"The urn." Hope said definitively.

"Sounds like our next monster showed up." Dr. Saltzman confirmed getting up from his table and walking to his bookshelf "You know every culture on earth has legends about creatures that only appear in dreams. Even in our dreams a woman in a black dress is pretty specific." He said flipping through the pages of the book he grabbed.

"So does that mean she can, like control what we see in our dreams. Like she can put stuff in our heads right?" Raf asked trying to find salvation. The dream he had seriously encroached on every single code he had. He didn't want to be responsible for ever thinking about his brother's girl like that.

"It's possible." Dr Saltzman replied causing a wave of relief to wash over Raf "Does that look familiar to you?" He showed Raf a picture with Raf nodding in agreement.

* * *

"Our latest monster is a night hag. It's a malevolent spirit trapped in the astral plane. That can only interact with us through dreams. In this case nightmares." Dr. Slatzman announced.

"So like Freddy Kruger?" MG asked trying to put it in terms most people would understand.

"Well in the sense that what happens to you in your dreams seems to also happen to you in real life. But the good news is where safe. So long as we stay awake. Now I've lined up more evacuation shuttles. That should be running all afternoon. Please for those of you who don't want to stay and fight take advantage of them. All right that's all." He said dismissing the students.

"What about you… you had any bad dreams last night?" Landon asked her as they made their way out of the assembly hall.

"No I barley slept. Just a lot on my mind." Her new roommate, the secrets she was keeping from Landon and now Raf's encounter with the night hag. All had her brain working on overdrive.

"Yeah same. Just got the first day jitters." Landon said as he chuckled. "So has anything comeback to you yet about our little amnesia trip. I mean this can't all be a coincidence, right?" Landon asked earnestly.

Putting Hope in a position where she had to lie to him directly. But she chose an alternative choosing to lie to him indirectly

"Uh. You know lets focus on one problem at a time okay." She responded. A lie of omission and changing the subject was far better than actually lying to him. Even then she couldn't look him in the eyes as she did it.

"Okay. But…" He said trying to get her to look him in the eyes "I mean can I at least help you solve this problem. I can be research assistant." He said trying his best to be helpful. Which was so cute but crushing at the same time for Hope "I am CPR certified and I know a little Tai Chi." He continued trying to be helpful, but Hope had to do what was right for him so she grabbed his arms before he could continue.

"Landon I know this isn't what you want to hear. But the best way that you can help is by evacuating." She stated as gently as she could.

"Woow are you leaving?" He asked concerned about Hope

"No. I need to stay here." She replied. She was the one who had to defend the urn. She had already lost one key to Malivore she wasn't going to lose another. But he didn't have to carry that burden.

"Okay. Then thanks but I should probably get to class." He replied happily choosing to stay in danger at the school.

Which left her to sigh. His safety at the school was the only reason she chose to vote him out of the school in the first place. It was a hard decision for her to make but ultimately it was the right one. Now that he was back he was still in danger.

* * *

He hated the night hag. He wanted it dead. Because of what it did to him. And it angered him that he couldn't kill it. Things that existed in an incorporeal form were a nightmare to deal with. Pun unintended. It was easier to fight things that were in the physical realm.

When Dr. Saltzman mentioned the evacuation bus. He could only think of one person who needed to be on one of those shuttles. But she didn't seem interested in leaving. He followed her out of the assembly hall

"You should really take Dr. Saltzman up on his offer of evacuation." He told here trying warn her. He knew he should've followed her wishes and stayed away but he had to make sure she was safe first.

"Why." She replied still showing an air of hostility towards him.

"This isn't your war but you might end up collateral damage Fi." He said knowing that it had become his war the moment the night hag messed with his dreams. Fi had suffered enough and she didn't need to suffer this as well.

"First of all. Only my friends call me 'Fi' and you've clearly shown that we're not even that." She said lashing out at him calling her 'Fi' "Secondly. I'm no stranger to war or being collateral damage thanks to you." She said throwing his mistakes in his face "I also don't run when given the choice. I'm staying because thanks to you I'm stuck here."

"Look I know I messed up in the past." He said taking full responsibility "But you don't have to get in danger now, because of it. So take the offer." He said a little more aggressively than he should have because she responded in kind.

"I'm staying. And I don't have to vindicate myself to you." She said brushing him off and making a move to leave.

He stopped her by grabbing her arm as gently as he could. He shouldn't, but she wasn't supposed to be dragged from one war zone to another when she had the chance to go for safety.

"You are getting on that bus." He stated demandingly. In hindsight telling a teenager to do something like an authoritarian parent, probably wasn't the best idea, but it was what came to him in the moment.

"You had 4 years to care" She said pulling her trump card and pulling her hand from his loose grip "Don't bother starting now." She added twisting the knife.

But he was determined and wouldn't be deterred by her pulling the card.

"You can stay mad at me on the bus."

"No." She bluntly responded. She was adamant on not going. But he was adamant as well.

"Yes." He responded just as aggressively raising his voice. As he stared into her eyes which were radiating anger. The intensity of his own eyes made the glow yellow, but she wasn't cowed by them only emboldened.

She had gotten on his nerves. All he wanted to do was make sure that she was safe. But she was being stubborn. Now he was getting angry, leading him to show a public display of anger. Which he hated doing, every time he did it just proved everyone right. Emma, Dr. Saltzman, Jeremy and his sister.

"Hey!" A voice called out breaking Duncan's PDA "Leave her alone Duncan." Hope said as she got in between Duncan and Fiona.

With the interruption Hope caused he was able to gather his senses and realize that wasn't the best strategy.

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed. Choosing to walk away. Talking to both girls made him too volatile and unhinged. He was done proving Jeremy right for the day.

* * *

Hope had just been minding her own business with the million thoughts that were running around her head. When she heard Duncan and Fiona almost start a shouting match. Which she had to stop before things got out of control.

"Hey are you okay?" Hope asked her new roommate. As Duncan walked away skulking.

"I'm fine." She replied

"You know, Duncan isn't normally like that." She said wondering to herself what could have set him off. Duncan for all his faults wasn't the type of guy argue in the hall. His usual rage was cold and intense. Seemingly the only person that could set him off was Hope. Other than that he would just keep to himself with is anger.

"He's always been like that." Fiona responded shocking Hope.

"Wait. You know Duncan?" She asked.

"I used to." She morbidly responded. "But I don't need his brand of negativity in my life." She said as she walked of headed to the girl's dorms.

With Hope following her to their room

There seemed to have been a lot of baggage between the two. Which got Hope curious but she decided not to pry. It seemed too personal for that. And Fiona was right they both had better things to worry about than Duncan Grayson.

* * *

"The senior witch faculty has mixed together a batch of energy herbs to help you stay awake. So for those of you who are not getting on the evacuation bus for lack of a better term please dose yourselves responsibly." Dr. Saltzman announced over the PA system "I'm gonna get sued or hexed at the very least." He lamented.

Dealing with witch parents had always been a problem.

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself. At my last school the gym teacher was dealing coke under the bleachers." Landon said trying to offer some weird words of comfort. It was cute that he was trying, but it didn't have the same effect he intended it to have.

"Oh yeah that only makes me feel marginally better." Dr. Saltzman replied with sarcasm

"Ow." He said squirming while she tended to his hand.

This was exactly the reason she wanted him go on one of the evacuation Shuttles. He was sensitive which was sweet, but it also made him fragile in the supernatural world.

"Uh. Don't stall I'm almost done. Okay"

"Okay." He said in agreement. What do you think she meant when she said 'bring it home'?" He asked.

"I'm guessing she meant Malivore. It seems her plan is to torment us until we produce the urn."

"Right, but if the night hag is a monster that's trapped on the astral plane. Then how could she even physically take the urn anywhere."

"Yeah the book also says the night hag. Can't affect our reality. But Rafael's welt and your hand seem to prove that wrong. When your research consist of fairy tales and urban legends. Sometimes the stories get twisted."

"Human dragon anyone." Hope chimed in.

"Dorian might be busy with the evacuation but we will figure this out. When the night hag tries to get the urn we will be there to stop it."

"Well at least it was a pretty memorable first day." He said looking at the silver lining. His optimism caused Hope to smile lightly.

"Yeah and the night hag is likely just getting started. You know Landon I really wish you would just evacuate with the others." Dr. Saltzman vocalized Hope's own feelings on the matter.

"I worked so hard to get here. If I run at the first sign of trouble what's the point?" Landon asked

"The point Landon is that we're trying to look after you." Dr. Saltzman continued to vocalize their thoughts

"Honestly you two are taking better care of me than anyone in my life ever has." Landon said garnering sympathy for Hope, because of the hard life he had had. And the fact that he was still trying to see the silver lining. "Course I had to stab myself to get your attention." Landon said in a light hearted manner.

But it made Hope feel guilty. For lying to him, and avoiding him the entire day because she couldn't stand to do it.

"You know we're all good here." Hope said assuring him his hand would be okay and walking away.

She needed time to regroup. She wasn't ready to really talk with him, while her guilt still hanging fresh.

* * *

With everything that had happened that day he needed to hit something. He would have gone to Duncan, but he was too distracted and didn't feel like getting his ribs broken that day.

'You're too stiff… There's not enough movement… Keep your stance is too shallow.' Even without him there he could still hear Duncan picking apart everything wrong with Raf's fighting. And he corrected the mistakes himself instead of getting hit.

As he continued his combinations he realized his breathing was off. His inhaling and exhaling was inconsistent with him hitting the bag. Throwing his rhythm of. One of the first things Duncan taught him after he taught him how to take a beating.

The sleep deprivation was already messing with him. But he was able to correct his breathing the best he could

"Hey." She said announcing her presences. Walking in while she fixed her gloves. "Have something against the bag?" She asked causing him to laugh.

"Yeah I'm almost done here. I'll get out your way." Usually the wolves' gym time was later in the afternoon and he didn't feel like stepping on her toes

"Yeah yeah no. I could actually use a sparring partner." She asked him.

But he was reluctant for multiple reason. And none of them had to do with her being half his size.

"If I don't punch something I'm going to fall asleep." She explained

"Yeah alright." He agreed.

He was already tired from being sleep deprived and having already worked out. But he was still keeping up with her, even holding back. He realized that was probably how Duncan felt when he was going up against Raf. Difference being Raf wasn't planning on hurting Hope.

"You're being too gentle." Hope said after she blocked another half ass punch.

"I'm punching you with half my weight." He explained. It was a sparring match and Raf undeniably had the size advantage over her.

"You're going to need all of it." She said going back on the offensive.

"That's going to hurt." He said when she blocked another pulled back punch to her midsection.

"No it's not." She said throwing a back hand towards him.

Hope was a good fighter, and her speed was incredible, making her tag Raf once in a while, but it lacked power. Hope then started going through her acrobatic arsenal showing off how agile she was. But she wasn't the only one that was agile.

He was still underestimating so he kept holding back. But Hope was starting to put his back against the wall with her flurry of attacks. Till she was able to get a clean hit with power that pushed back Raf.

"Don't make me take you down. I have no desire to be alpha here." She said trying to taunt him.

Duncan had always told him how important being alpha was and to take every challenge seriously. He also told him how important it was for him to never let himself get beat. But then again he had said that right after beating Raf.

So Raf decided to stop holding back and went on the offensive. Hope was keeping up for a while but she made a small mistake on her defense and Raf exploited it the same way Duncan would. And kept hammering it until Hope was down. Which worried Raf, it wasn't his intention to seriously hurt her.

"Hope you good?" He walked over to her concerned. But that was a trap.

A trap that sprung up and brought him down near instantaneously before Raf could even fight it off. Hope had gotten into a grapple that nullified Raf's superior size and strength. He was already out of energy at that point so after a bit of struggle he tapped. Because he had nothing to gain or lose by tapping during a sparring match.

She laughed as she rolled off of him and landed right next to him.

"Damn woman." He complimented her. With labored breath.

"I'm really sorry about all the things that happened to you in your life that made you so good at brawling. But I really needed that just now." She laughed not really knowing the amount of broken ribs he had received at the hands of Duncan.

As they laid there exhausted. Raf decided to put his personal issues aside and focus on what really mattered And after a deep breath he steadied himself to approach the issue.

"Listen." He said grabbing her attention and rising to a sitting positon. "I don't mean to get in your business but be cool with Landon okay. I know him and he's not going to believe that he's welcome here until he's about to graduate. He's going to be waiting on the other shoe to drop. And look if you're going to drop that shoe all I ask is that you be gentle okay."

"What makes you think that there's another shoe?" She asked not fully understanding.

He knew that Hope had had a really difficult life and that she had suffered a lot. But not the same kind of suffering as Raf and Landon.

"Where we're from there's always another shoe. Sometimes it's an actual shoe or… a belt." He chuckled at himself. Of how he could be so scared of something as ordinary as a belt "But you get the point. Look if you're cooling of on him. Fine. But just don't lie to him." He pleaded with her.

He was a firm believer in growing up and doing the right thing. The same philosophy he had used when he broke up with Lizzie.

"I'm not cooling off on him." Hope responded contrary to her actions.

"Why have you been avoiding him?" He asked trying to make sense of the situation.

"Because there's a lot going on." She said revealing nothing as she avoided eye contact with Raf.

"It couldn't hurt to be a little more honest about it."

"I'm being as honest as I can be." She said in her defense

"Yeah. And somewhere still in that is a lie." He responded. A lie of omission was still a lie.

"You've never lied to protect someone?" She asked putting the spotlight on him.

"No Hope. I haven't." He said with a lie of his own.

Which made him an even larger hypocrite. Now he was the one unable to look her in the eyes. Then he got up and left.

His dreams had started making him ask question he didn't want the answers to. Because he was scared would mean something he didn't want them to mean.

* * *

As the day went on he wanted that incorporeal bitch dead even more. Now he had a target for his rage but he didn't have an outlet for it. Because he didn't know how to kill a nightmare. So he spent every moment when he wasn't writing an exam in the library. Searching for kryptonite to kill the night hag.

He had been reading book after book to try and find the night hag's weakness. Because every supernatural creature had a weakness. For werewolves it was wolfsbane, for vampires it was Vervain and wooden stakes and for witches it was practically anything because they were basically human.

While he was going through the books not finding a single clue on the night hag. He was joined by one of people stupid enough to stay at the school. But unlike Fiona he didn't care what happened to Landon Kirby. So he wouldn't dissuade him from his foolishness.

Landon looked around the Library but the only person in it was Duncan. Everyone else was smart enough evacuate the school.

"Hey I'm new here and I was kinda looking for some help getting some books?" Landon asked Duncan while he was still flipping through the books.

He didn't bother to stop reading so that he could acknowledge his presence. But there was also no need to be rude even the Landon was the cause of every monster that showed up after he stole the knife.

"What books are you looking for?" Duncan responded still reading a book.

"Anything to do with dream creatures, specifically the night hag." He added for clarification.

Landon seemed to be on the same mission that Duncan had been on.

"They're already here." Duncan said to the mountain of books on the table.

"Oh… So you're looking for it too."

"Yes."

"Mind if I join you?" He asked

"It's a free library." He responded allowing Landon to join.

He then proceeded to sit down and start getting through the books.

"I'm Landon by the way."

"I know who you are. And I don't care." He said abrasively hoping that would dissuade Landon from trying to strike a conversation. He wasn't in the mood for small talk.

With the both of the going through the mountain of books together they were moving at a much faster pace. Two heads were better than one. The problem was one of them couldn't sit in silence.

"Are you studying for your exams or something?" Landon asked an hour into the silence.

"No." He responded bluntly. Duncan was and A+ student.

"Okay then… why are you researching on the night hag?"

"Because I want to kill." He said with full conviction. The night hag was as good as dead the moment he found a way to do that.

Landon saw that anger and rage in his eyes that had been turned into unbreakable determination to see the night hag dead. He seemed to start contemplating something. It made Duncan glad because Landon went back to being silent while he contemplated.

"Wait what if the creature wasn't a night hag?" Landon asked.

"What else could it be?" Duncan shot back. The creature he had encountered fit the description of the night hag.

"What if it was a creature that had the foresight to realize that if it revealed its true self? Then crazy lunatics like you would be trying find ways to kill." Landin theorized whilst calling him a crazed lunatic "Sorry" He apologies after realizing his insult.

Duncan knew how he came of too most people. And he had been called far worse than a crazed lunatic so he let the slight go. Not even bothering to acknowledge. His theory did sound plausible. Which made Duncan want to kill the creature even more because he had spent over 2 hours researching how to kill a night hag.

"Then we have to figure out what that creature is. So that we can find out how to kill it."

With their search parameters widened, they went back to the books trying to find out what the creature was. Which made them spend another 2 hours researching every dream creature that fit the description of the night hag without actually being a night hag.

* * *

He was surrounded by idiots. Everyone in that room wasn't there because they were brave, they were there because they were stupid. Most of them were a part of the Scooby doo mystery gang or whatever dorky name they called themselves. The only outliers were Duncan who was vindictive and Fiona who was stubborn.

"A black-winged what?" Kaleb asked in disbelief.

"Shape shifting dream demon." Hope and Landon said in unison.

"I know it sounds bad but now that we know what the creature is we can fight it." Hope said trying to reassure everyone.

"How the hell are we supposed to kill a dream demon?" Rafael asked still unsure of their plan.

"Leave that part to me. But since I can't fall asleep without compromising the location of the urn. I need someone else to pull it out of the dream planet into our waking reality." Hope said laying down the plan.

He was bitter he wouldn't get to kill the Oneiroi. But as long as it ended up dead he didn't care how.

"So Freddy Kruger like I said." MG made his obligatory pop-culture reference. Which seemed to be the only way he understood things. The same could be said for his peers.

"Wait how the hell are we supposed to do that?" Raf asked still unsure.

"If it's anything like the movies we just grab and pull." MG answered.

"Yeah, okay. Is it too late to get on the uh… evacuation bus?" Kaleb asked. Not having the sense to just leave.

He wasn't the only one in the room who didn't have the sense to go running for the hills.

"No. I mean I'm not going to ask all of you to stay for this. It has to be your choice." Hope said leaving the decision up to everyone else

"Well I'm not leaving unless Hope does." Landon said perking up.

"We already know the answer to that though." Hope stated.

"I'm not leaving Landon behind." Raf stated where his loyalties laid. An admirable trait.

"Who knows how many chances you will get to fight a dream demon?" Fiona said throwing her hat in the ring with the rest of the idiots.

He knew the only reason she was doing it was because he didn't want her too. An act of defiance that was putting her in danger.

"I'm a founding member of the super squad so I can't bail." MG stated proudly. As he turned to Kaleb

"Y'all going to get yourselves killed." He said looking around to see if anyone in the room was sensible. But failed to find any. "But if MG stays I stay no child left behind."

"In that case. It's nap time."

* * *

The time had come for them to enact the plan but she couldn't do it. Not with him there. Everyone that was there was essential to the plan except for him. Fiona was there to help with the spells and the rest of the guys were there as muscle, 2 vampires and 2 werewolves. He didn't need to be in danger.

"Landon I don't think you should do this." She said expressing her concerns.

"No. Uh uh. You don't get to ignore me the whole day and make decisions for me." He said throwing her action of the day in her face.

But she had more to be concerned about than her own guilt.

"You're going to be inside of a nightmare." She said still trying to convince him to leave.

"Yeah." He said brushing it off.

"This monster can get inside of your head. And use your worst fears against you." She said seemingly to no avail.

"Are you kidding, my biggest fear was fitting in here. Now I'm a dream warrior. Plus I saved the day… Well, yeah, No I found the plan to save the day. You're the one that's actually going to save the day. Which is so sexy by the way." He said causing her cheeks to redden and a smile to appear on her face. "I'm staying and I'm going to help you stop this thing." He said still wanting to be helpful.

There seemed to be nothing that she could say to deter him. So instead of trying to push him she decided allow him to help. To even make him instrumental.

"I don't know what it's going to take to stop it. But maybe there is one thing you can do to help me. I need you to…" She whispered the location of the urn to him before kissing him on his cheek "sweet dreams." She said wishing him farewell as he went straight into danger.

* * *

The sleep deprivation made everyone fall asleep quicker, as Hope and Fiona made the rounds making sure everyone was okay.

She had hoped that Landon would have chosen to go to safety but he was adamant on being helpful. Fiona seemed to have gotten the same virus Landon had because she still stuck around. But it seemed it was meant more to piss of Duncan than anything else.

While making the rounds she realized the boys had started to get their nightmares. She crouched over Landon seeing him squirm as the nightmare took place. Other than some discomfort he seemed to be okay. Nothing worrisome. But she still felt his pain.

"He really seems to care about." Fiona commented while she was overlooking Duncan.

"Yeah he does but look where that's gotten him."

"You can't blame someone for caring about." Fiona responded as she crouched to study Duncan further.

"I can't" She lamented.

Fiona gave Duncan a longing look. Showing that despite what she said about not caring about him she obviously did.

Hope thought of how he had been acting the entire day. He had seemed to mirror Hope about wanting those they cared about to be safe. Duncan was actually trying to act like a person. Though he failed miserably at that.

"Duncan also seems to care about you too… I mean usually never gets involved. But here he is trying to fight a dream demon to try and keep you safe." She said noticing his change in behavior. Duncan had been acting weird the entire day. Actually trying to keep someone safe, even studying in the library and helping Landon find a way to stop the dream demon.

"Duncan doesn't care about me. He is just angry."

"I'm guessing that's just how he shows he cares." She said oddly finding herself coming to his defense. Her way of showing she cared was pushing people away, which seemed to alienate people just as well as Duncan's anger.

Hope and Fiona seemed to be the only people that got past his indifference and got his anger. For Hope it was because he hated her and For Fiona it was because he cared about her.

"No it's not. He's angry because that's who he is. He's not here because the dream demon was a threat to me. He's here because it crossed him. It went into his twisted head and it scared him. So he turned that fear into rage. It's why he's basically growling while the rest of the boys are squirming. Now he is focusing all of that rage on destroying for his own reasons that have nothing to do with me. He didn't bring an axe to this to this because he cares he brought it because he wants to destroy. It's all he ever does." She explained correcting Hope's thoughts which made her rethink giving Duncan the benefit of the doubt.

She was right about Duncan on so many levels. Because she was part werewolf she knew how much anger they carried, but Duncan's always seemed to be on another level. Leading Hope to recognize that once someone passed the indifference in him anger was all there was left.

That made Hope feel better because she could just write him off as the angry guy he was and not some complex guy that hated her.

* * *

Dread filled his heart on every single full moon. He's biggest concern wasn't the excruciating pain he felt when he turned. It wasn't the increased aggression he got as he approached his wolf form. It was how uncontrollable his anger felt and what he might do because of it.

The full moon reminded him of how much of a danger he truly was. So he chained himself up as tight as he could, but he feared he would break out of his restraints. His fear wouldn't help him because it was already too late. He felt the first bone break surging an intense pain all though out his body. It kept happening again and again until he couldn't focus on anything but the pain.

Then hands softly grazed his face trying to grab his attention. They brought him out of the daze the pain had put him in, but he was still confused.

"Raf. Hey. Hey it's okay. I'm here now." Hope said with her hands on his face directing him to look her in the eye. As though she was saying focus on me and not the pain.

But she shouldn't be there.

"Get away, get away." He begged her to leave while pushing her away. He was scared of what he would do. And what that would mean for him and Landon.

"Hey it's okay." She said stopping him. "You can't hurt me. It's okay." She said wrapping her gentle hands around his face. Directing him to look her in the eyes again.

When she looked him in the eyes the way she did thoughts crossed his mind that he didn't want there.

"I'm not afraid of hurting you." He confessed. He was afraid of something else. Because it wasn't Hope that he would hurt if he did anything.

"I wanna be with you." She said throwing caution to the wind "Don't you want that too?" She asked him.

He did want to be with her. He'd never admit it but he did. Deep down he knew he did. But what he wanted wasn't what mattered. He stood for things that would never allow him to be with her.

The way she looked at him made his decision even harder to make. But he had never been about the easy choice, he stood for the right choice.

"I would never do this to Landon." Raf said coming to his senses and conviction "This isn't real. You're not real!" He stated with full conviction.

"But you wish it was. And that makes you the worst kind of monster." The dream demon tried to torment him.

It was right he was the worst kind of monster, but he was done listening and being tortured by it. He decided to use all the pain and suffering the monster had inflicted on him and tried to grab it and pull it to the physical realm. But it dissipated into thin air.

* * *

He violently woke up from the nightmare the dream demon had inflicted.

"Are we alive? Did we win?" MG asked as everyone stared waking up

"Everybody okay?" Raf asked to make sure they were okay.

"See any dead dream demons laying around?" Kaleb asked.

"I grabbed the monster like MG said but ah…. I don't know if it worked. Where is Hope?" Landon asked as they couldn't find Hope around the room

"She was in my dream and then I don't know she was gone." Raf answered without missing a beat. Which he probably shouldn't have done.

"She went to fight the dream demon." Fiona responded.

Making Raf realized he should have just kept quiet and let the person who was actually awake answer the question.

"What's that?" Kaleb asked as they heard a commotion.

"Woow what was Hope doing in your dream." Landon asked concerned.

Which made Raf regret speaking even more. He avoided eye contact as he thought of a way to respond

"The usual just being a badass." He lied not even looking Landon in the eyes.

The commotion kept getting closer to them until Hope and the dream demon busted through the walls of the gym leaving everyone to disperse.

"Pretty much like that." He said as the dream demon managed to push Hope away from it.

It stood in the middle of the room extending its black wings trying to intimidate everyone. But they were all ready to go on the offensive and end the demon that had tormented them.

"Stay back guys I got this." Hope said calling dibs on killing the monster.

She attacked it ferociously with a flurry of combinations, dogging and weaving with counter attacks. The display made him realize that maybe Hope was the one holding back when they were sparring earlier. Because despite how big and strong the demon was Hope was more than holding her own.

She had managed to jump up and tackle it to the ground before getting it in a grapple. A variation of the one she had used on him to negate Raf's strength and size. Unlike Raf the demon had the energy to fight back. It started chocking Hope with all its strength causing her to grasp for air.

Before any of the other spectators could move to help her out. Duncan was already there with an axe. With swift and seemingly effortless motion he swung the axe like it was a golf club and severed the hand that was chocking Hope from the monster. Using the same momentum he spun around and brought the axe down on the demon's head decapitating it. A brutal display that ended the monster life as it started to dissipate.

"I had that." Hope said annoyed as she coughed.

"I don't care. I wanted it dead. Now it's dead." He coldly responded starting to walk away.

Duncan had accomplished what he wanted to do but in the process he frightened or pissed off everyone in the room. Fiona and Hope seemed to be in the camp of people he pissed off because of the stink eye they gave him as he walked away.

"Okay. That guy has some serious issues." Kaleb said as Duncan kept walking away carrying the axe like a lunatic.

"Yeah." The rest of the people said in unison.

It was things like that that made it hard for Raf to defend Duncan. The only thing he ever seemed to do was alienate everyone around him.

* * *

Even though the dream demon was dead it still left an impact on him. But he had stopped blaming it because of his own dreams. He was the one responsible for them. He was the one responsible for how he felt. And what his feelings meant.

He had spent years of his life living in uncontrollable circumstances. But now he was taking control of his situation, when it came to the pack, his anger now his feelings for Hope. He was taking full responsibility for everything he did now. He was going to be a better person, alpha and friend.

"Hey." She said calling out to him as she exited the ladies room "great job tonight." She complimented him.

"Thanks." He unenthusiastically replied. Then tried to make a move to go the boys' room.

"Are you okay?" She asked stopping him in his tracks "You know all day I've been feeling like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop with you." She confessed.

It wasn't her fault that though. It was his.

"You know um, when Landon and I first met at Hector, Maria's. He told me this story about this guy 4 towns over who used to burn him with cigarettes for sport."

"Yeah. I've heard about that." She responded with sympathy.

"I felt this crazy need to protect him." Another part of being a werewolf. Besides the anger there was also an intense loyalty. "Even though I know it wouldn't change anything. So one day I took a couple buses. I knocked on that guy's door and I beat the crap out of him." He admitted sparring the gory details. "I never told Landon about it either. I knew he wouldn't want to be a part of something like that. So what I said earlier about lying. I was being a hypocrite. Because when someone is as important as Landon is to me. I'll do what's best for him. Even if that means having to lie. But I also have to protect him from being hurt in other ways too. So you and I we can't talk like this anymore." He told her.

On some instinctual level she understood. And what was unsaid between them would stay that way. He didn't want to complicate anymore relationships. Especially if it could hurt Landon in the end.

So he stood by what was right and he left her there. Left her to go to Landon. To be with Landon in a way she would never be with him.

* * *

With the Oneiroi he oddly didn't feel like sleeping. Despite having been sleep deprived for an entire day. Instead he found himself introspecting far more than usual. He had diverted a bit his rage and used it to destroy the last approaching threat. But his anger's true target was an enemy he couldn't fight.

Not because it was an incorporeal demon that had crossed him but because it was threat far stronger than him. It was the reason he couldn't go home. The reason Fiona was now resigned to this prison called the Salvatore School for the gifted.

He heard her coming towards the barn so he made his way down the stairs to receive his lounge lashing in spades. He deserved it and everything after everything he'd done. He still felt the need to vindicate himself.

"I know I shouldn't have bothered you, but you shouldn't have stayed." He preemptively justified himself. His audacity to defend himself was not well received.

"You know part of me stayed because you told me not to." She replied admitting her own pettiness "But another part of me stayed because I was tired of running and feeling unsafe in a place that was supposed to be my haven. I wasn't going to let some dream demon take that away from me. You already did that to me once."

He wondered how many times she would through it in his face.

"Fiona I'm sorry for everything." He apologized respecting her wishes not to her 'Fi'.

"And I don't forgive you. And not for the reasons you think. I forgave you for what happened to Sean. I know it wasn't your fault. You were manipulated by DeMarcus to trigger your curse. I forgave you for giving in to your anger and slaughtering his men. I forgave you for starting the war that raged throughout the city for the past 4 years. I even forgave you for ignoring me for the past 4 years. But what I won't forgive you for is the fact that you've changed and not for the better. All you seem to be capable of is rage and indifference. The very things that brought us makes me think that you're not truly sorry."

"But I am."

"No you're not, if you were you would have done everything in your power to make sure you could control your rage. So that history doesn't repeat itself. Instead all you've seem to have done is become even angrier to the point where it consumes you and you have no room in your life for anything else. At first I wanted you out of my life because I was angry and trying to punish you, but you seem to be doing that all by yourself. Now I'm letting that anger go because I don't need that negativity in my life." She said deciding to walk away.

Her words cut deeper than any knife.

This time with a new understanding they went their separate ways. Because she was right she didn't need his negativity in her life. And he didn't get to act like he was still her boyfriend whenever he liked. And he couldn't afford to care about her with what he was planning.

* * *

Raf needed some space from it all. Some time to regroup and gain perspective. He had made his choice to do the right thing but he couldn't face Landon at the moment. So he went to the one place where his problems didn't exist. A truly judgement and guilt free zone.

On the way to the barn he had come across Fiona. Which meant Duncan was probably in a bad mood. Probably even worse than he had been the entire day and that was far more than usual.

"Hey. You okay?" He asked the moment he entered the barn. "I mean I just saw Fiona walking away from here."

"Yeah. I'm okay." He said going to the section of the wall where the secret compartment. "Need a drink?" He asked Raf as he banged on the wall.

Raf didn't need a drink, but after the day he had had he sure did want one.

"Sure." Raf said as Duncan revealed the liquor cabinet. He had seemed to restock everything they had drank the last time.

"Irish?" Duncan asked pouring some into a glass

"Yeah." Raf agreed with Duncan pouring it into a second glass. "What are we drinking to this time?" Raf asked as Duncan brought the glasses to him.

"I still have my complicated situation with Fiona and you have yours with Hope." Duncan casually said causing Raf's eye to bulge of their sockets.

"With Hope?" He asked shocked.

"I head your heartbeat earlier, when Landon asked what Hope was doing in your dreams." Duncan responded.

"No it wasn't like that, it was…" Raf lied but Duncan saw through that.

"It's okay." Duncan calmly said. "You don't have to answer to me." He stated Raf "Like I said it's a complicated situation." Duncan said as he clicked his drink with Raf's.

And he dropped the conversation there, never bringing it up again as they drank.

* * *

 **AN:** As always please leave a review. Also curious about your thoughts on Fiona. Is she too shoehorned in or getting shilled by the other characters, does she even fit in this kind of story?


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Remember that slug episode were everyone was acting loopy. This is that through the eyes of Raf, Duncan and Hope.

* * *

Like every little girl. When Hope was younger she loved unicorns. Even if it was a monster she wasn't going to get her hands bloodied by killing the mythical creature. It was too cute to kill and it also had the benefit of keeping the other monsters away. So it was a win win scenario.

Finally winning against the impending doom of Malivore must have paused her perpetual melancholy. Because she woke happy and energized. Ready to take on the day with a smile.

"Hey." Fiona greeted her coming back from her morning run.

The girl was an early riser and liked to get her workouts in early in the morning, long before anyone else had woken up. It was just one of the quirks Hope had realized about her roommate.

"Hey." Hope responded gleefully. Which Fiona took note of.

"Someone looks rather cheery this morning." She said as she started to get changed out of her workout clothes.

"I know. It's just something today that seems magical." Hope responded thinking of the unicorn.

She wanted ride it and fulfill her 8 year old self's wishes. She knew it wasn't advisable to be riding magical creatures. But she might do it anyway.

"That's good to hear. Happy is a good look on you."

"I'm wondering what else would be a good look on me." Hope responded.

She had always fashioned her look to be decent and presentable. But that day she felt like taking it a step further. She wanted to try something new.

So while getting ready for the day she had enlisted Fiona in helping her style her hair. It was fun having a roommate and a friend to help her out with it. And after trying out a couple of different styles she picked out the one she wanted most.

A perfect start to a day she saw as half full.

* * *

Hanging with Landon over the past few days and by extension Hope. Had been weird and awkward. He had done his best mitigate the tension only he seemed to be experiencing. It had become unbearable for him. But he stuck it out.

Even when the two were being affectionate. He knew they weren't trying to rub it in his face. It was his own fault for catching feelings for his brother's girl.

Every time he saw her he fell a little bit deeper into that hole. That day he fell a lot deeper because she looked better than normal.

"Morning Handsome." She greeted Landon pouring on the affection early on and out in the open.

Immediately causing Raf to feel awkward.

"Handsomes." She added acknowledging Raf and making him feel more awkward.

"Mhmm sweet sweet carbs." She took a piece of the croissant that Landon was eating.

"Someone's in a really good mood." Raf said taking note of her actions.

"Hmn. Just woke up on the right side of the bed I guess." She replied nonchalantly.

"For the first time ever." Landon added with his specific bran of humor.

"You're so funny. I love that about you." She continued on her weird PDA.

This was not the Hope Mikaeleson he was used to. She was overtly happy and giddy. A side of her had never seen. And didn't appreciate fully, it made him feel far more awkward being around the too. With her rubbing Landon's back and open displays of affection.

And when it rains it pours. Because the pit in his stomach was staring to grow further as he saw Lizzie and Josie headed straight for him. He had heard they were back and had been hoping to talk to them. But he would have preferred it to be later in the day when he wasn't already dealing with the awkwardness from Hope and Landon.

"Good morning Rafael." Lizzie greeted singling him out.

"Hi. How's… How was your trip?" He nervously asked them.

"Excellent. Thank you." Josie replied

"Cool." He muttered under his breath.

"And welcome back Landon." Josie added.

"Didn't you vote me out?" Landon replied still salty over Josie's choice.

"That's all in the past." Lizzie responded sweeping it under the rug. "Now is everyone as excited as I am about tonight?"

"What's happening tonight?" Landon asked confused

"The school's annual talent show. All the factions compete." Hope explained. "You know the witch performance wouldn't be the same without you 2."

"Thank you." Josie responded before the bell rang.

"If I could have your attention. Last night we were able to capture a monster. Here on the grounds. We have everything under control. But given this potential danger. It is with a heavy heart that I must postpone the talent show." Dr Saltzman announced to a chorus of groans disappointed at the cancelation.

But Raf wasn't in that camp. He was glad there wasn't a talent show. He didn't feel the need to embarrass himself.

"Hopefully we would be able to reschedule this unique event. At a later date." Dr. Saltzman announced "A much, much later date." He added.

"Kind of over kill if you ask me. I told your dad that a unicorn barley counts as a monster." Hope told the girls sending them into action.

Less than an hour after the good news. Josie called an emergency session for the honor counsel. To decide whether they should hold the talent show or not. Josie was obviously in favor of the talent show as well as Emma who represented the lower grades. Raf was obviously against it as well as Kaleb. Leaving Hope to be the swing vote. On any normal day the rather gloomy girl would have voted against it. But thanks to her new sunny outlook on life she voted for it.

It was days like this that Raf envied Duncan. His outsider status protected him from doing embarrassing things like the talent show.

"Good news friends the talent show is going on as previously scheduled." Lizzie announced on the PA system.

With Landon taking joy in Raf's impending suffering. Whilst putting a hand on his shoulder mocking him. He brushed of the attempts at fake sympathy with Landon still laughing.

"So Lizzie's acting weird?" Landon commented.

"She's not the only one." Raf said pointing at Hope. She was the reason Raf was condemned to an afternoon of planning a talent to showcase the wolves.

"Babe. We should do a talent." Hope said to Landon seemingly determined to embarrass the both of them.

"What?" Landon asked surprised with Raf enjoying the shoe being on the other foot. "Like you and me?" He continued to ask in disbelief.

"I never wanted to before because I would have to do it alone. And now I have you. And we make up our own faction. The tribrid and you." She said bringing him into a hug.

"Yeah, alright. Yeah. Team other." Landon responded resigning to his fate.

Raf's short lived enjoyment faded as Landon and Hope started to make out. Making Raf feel like the awkward third wheel. He wasn't interested in torturing himself so he walked away.

Even though Landon and Raf didn't want to do the Talent show. Raf had to spend the day organizing the wolves while Landon would spend it with Hope. Raf got the short end of the stick by far.

* * *

"This is so much fun. I don't know why we don't this more often." Hope said causing all the girls to laugh.

She had decided to tag along with Fiona when she went to hang out with all the other witches. Hope had never really hung around them outside of class. But she was glad she had been more sociable that day. It truly showed her what she had been missing out over the years when she locked herself in her room and binge watched cut throat kitchen.

Now she was sharing smoothies with the other witches. Dr. Saltzman would have been proud of her for getting out her shell more. And she was slowly gaining more friends than she had ever had.

"Hey, do you know where they moved the stupid canes for the talent show? Lizzie was asking me to find them." Josie came in asking hot and heavy.

"You seem very anti-cane?" Hope questioned noting that something was bothering her.

"No I'm just anti doing the same thing every year. But it's fine." Josie said dismissing it.

"I'll keep an eye out. But uhm I thinks someone has an eye out for you." Hope mentioned to her after she noted a few glances from Penelope.

"Oh dear god. Hide me." Josie said starting her game of hide and seek from behind Hope.

"Hi." She enthusiastically greeted Penelope. Just because she was a wall hiding Josie didn't mean she had to be rude.

But Penelope ignored her and side stepped her headed straight for Josie. Winning the game of hide and seek. She then handed Josie a letter.

"Just make sure you read it in private."

"I'm not going to read it at all." Josie replied taking the letter in hand. Crushing Penelope in the process.

Penelope then signaled to some of the witches and walked away with her entourage.

"Okay what do you think it says? Check this box if you want to kiss me. Check this box if you want to kill me." Hope asked rather curios to find out about the letter.

"I don't know and I do not want to find out." Josie expressed.

"If you need me to smite the she-devil I got you girl." Hope added her support

"Okay did Emma just slip you happy pills or something while we were gone?" Josie questioned

"No I'm just having a good day." Hope answered.

"That makes one of us."

"I got to get to class." She said remembering the time "But your day is going to get so much better Jo." She brought the other girl into a hug "I just know it." She said before rushing off to the next class.

She and Fiona made their way to their next class still talking and keeping the friendly and happy vibes. But for Fiona those died the moment she saw Duncan. He headed in a beeline for them which made Fiona frown even more.

Fiona was generally a happy person unless Duncan was involved. He seemed to bring out what ever buried anger and resentment she held. Hope still hadn't asked why Fiona hated him so much, because she didn't want to ruin her mood by bringing him up. But there he was headed straight towards them.

Hope made her way in front of Fiona in her defense. She had offered to help Josie smite the she-devil now she was offering Fiona to smite the devil himself.

"Hey, Hope." He said rather cordially.

"Hey Duncan." Hope responded more friendly than she usually would have.

"I come in peace." He added without his signature scowl. He was actual smiling. An authentic smile from the looks of it. It seemed out of place for him. But she guessed the bug that put her in a good mood must have caught on to Duncan.

"What do you want Duncan." Fiona asked coldly stepping from behind Hope.

"I just want to talk." He asked cordially seemingly disarming her.

"About?" She asked warmer than she had been before. But still sounding defensive.

"Nothing serious. Just to talk. That's it."

"I have class."

"Then ditch with me." He tried to convince her. Instead of being overly aggressive.

He may have been stubborn but he was actually diplomatic in his approach. It seemed to be working because Fiona was actually considering it and trying to decide if she would go or not. So Hope decided to give her a little nudge.

"Don't worry about class, I'll cover for you with Mrs. Sutherland." Hope said.

"Fine. Let's go." She said deciding to go with him.

"Bye." Hope waved them off enthusiastically.

"Thanks." Duncan replied actually meaning it. Instead of saying it like a formality.

The change in Duncan was a welcomed one. He hadn't seemed indifferent nor angry. He was actually like a functioning member of society. Something Hope wished she would see more off. She was tired of seeing the angry brooding loner stereotype giving a bad name to werewolves.

* * *

It was just him and Hope. Nothing to be weird about. They had hung out alone together countless times. He didn't have to be awkward. He just needed to be her friend and help her out.

Those were the thoughts he repeated in his mind. If he could believe it he could achieve it.

"Hey." He said dropping his bag and grabbing the seat next to her.

"Hey. Thank you for coming." She responded

"Anything to avoid the wolves talking about the stupid talent show." He said causing her to laugh. "Apparently deciding what we do is an alpha thing." He lamented.

"Once you have your gel mix make a shallow cut on your volunteer." Mrs. Sutherland announced.

"Do you trust me?" She asked holding a scalpel

"Kinda." He replied hesitantly. Causing both of them to laugh.

She started to get closer to him. Slowly bringing the scalpel up to his cheek. And making a shallow cut.

"Thought this would be something you'd want to do with Landon?" He questioned her

"If I mess up you will heal on your own." She explained "Plus you're a little sturdier." She went on to add.

For all of the good things about Landon. Sturdy was not one of his strengths.

Hope grabbed a small portion of the gel and got closer to Raf to start applying it. With how close she was he couldn't help but look at her. Even in human form as werewolf his sense of smell was far more intense than the regular human. The scent of her was mesmerizing to him. And being that close to her made him fall down the pit even more. He wanted to climb out of it, but he couldn't.

"So what are you going to do?" She asked.

"Huh?" He asked confused. Wondering if she had read his mind and knew what he wanted to do with her.

"The talent show." She went on to explain

"Oh uh. One of the wolves he's going to teach me to juggle." He answered.

"Juggle. Come on you should do something bold and spontaneous totally unexpected." She said trying to encourage him.

He did want to do something bold and spontaneous, but that would ruin his friendship with Landon. And he hated how much he was considering it. And the turmoil it brought to him.

"Uh. Well done Hope." Mrs. Sutherland congratulated Hope.

Also making Raf realized his cut had healed. He touched his cheek where the cut had been. Where Hope had touched him.

"Thank you Mrs. Sutherland. See… Sorry to bolt. But I got to figure out what Landon and I are good at together." Hope said packing her things as he proceeded to do the same.

"Besides making out." She nonchalantly added.

Which felt like a punch in the gut from Duncan when she said it. But it was a good reminder of where the stood. He was Landon's brother and she was the girl he was making out with.

"Yeah no problem." He replied

"I can't believe I went from practically having no one at this school to having a boyfriend and a true friend I know I can count on." She confided in him before hugging him. "I'm so lucky to have you both." She said before walking away.

He had to remind himself that before she was the girl Landon was making out with. She was his friend. She still was. And he had to get over his feelings for her not just for his sake but for hers and Landon sake as well.

But that was easier said than done.

* * *

He had made a choice that day. He had decided not to shut out the world. His end was coming soon enough he didn't have to be a living corpse. Choosing between indifference and anger. All defense mechanisms to save him from making an even harder choice.

That day he had chosen to make right what was wrong. He had always wanted to make amends before his time ended, but he had always restrained himself. Now he wanted to leave on a high note. And since she was the person he had wronged most he wanted to start with her.

"Okay seriously, what's gotten into you?" Fiona asked impatient as they reached the barn.

"Nothing." He answered

"Then why are you so cheery?" She continued to ask.

"Today just feels like one of those days when everything is right in the world and I thought I'd share it with you." He answered jovial. He hadn't remembered the last time he felt that way.

"Why?"

"We were friends once. Before everything happened. Before I mucked it up. I just wanted to make amends." He admitted.

"And how do propose you'll do that?" She asked pensive.

"Like I said just by talking just. You and me."

"Okay then."

"I never got to ask. How have you been?" He asked fully expecting her to throw '4 years' in his face again.

"Pretty crappy. I lost my best friend and my boyfriend. In the same week. And I spent the past 4 years isolated and alone because of the threat DeMarcus posed."

"I'm sorry about that." He apologized again.

"You don't have to apologies for that. Like I said before I forgave you for those. I don't forgive you for still being an asshole."

"I know and I'm trying."

"I can see. But that doesn't make up for it."

"Then a gift perhaps." He stated walking over to a plank on the floor. Where he hid one of his most prized possessions.

"Money means nothing to you and you can't buy my forgiveness with it."

"I know, that's why I'm not trying to. The gift is obligation free." He told her removing a Walsh 1927 limited reserve Irish whiskey.

"Is that what I think that is?" She questioned when looking at the bottle.

It was a $10000 bottle of whiskey. Far better than anything he kept on stock in the liquor cabinet. But it wasn't the price tag that mattered or the fact that there were only 1000 bottles of it ever made and probably 200 out in the world.

What mattered was what it meant to the both of them. It was the first drink they had ever had. Sean had convinced him to swipe a bottle of liquor since Duncan's family owned Walsh Industries. Duncan had unknowingly swiped one the oldest and most expensive bottles of whiskey from the cellar. And being the stupid kids they were all three of them drank it like it was just another bottle of regular whiskey. It wasn't till his sister shouted at him that it dawned on him what he had actually done. But being the first drink they all ever had the particular bottle held a special place in all of their hearts.

"Yes it is. And it's yours." He said gifting it to her. Dead men didn't need the finer things in life. "Obligation free." He added. Brining a tear to her eye. "It's my way of saying I know I've been an asshole and that I should have been a better man. I also won't let anger control me any longer. I'm going to put a stop to it." He declared to her.

His words seemed to affect Fiona even more than the bottle had. Because when she heard those words coming from him she threw caution to the wind and rushed up and kissed him.

She must have misunderstood him. She must have thought he meant letting his anger instead of letting it consume him. But that wasn't what he meant. Before the week was done it would have been all over. Either he or DeMarcus would be dead. Either way it would be the end of his rage.

He didn't correct her. He let her have that one moment of solace. His own moment of solace was days and a continent away.

* * *

Finding out what she and Landon were good at. Was harder than she had originally intended. But she hadn't failed, she had merely found 40 talents they weren't good at. Now she was scraping the bottom of the barrel even that didn't seem like it was panning out. She guessed watching all of those seasons of cutthroat kitchen didn't translate well to actual baking skills.

"If it's gooey then it's not done." She informed him while he was removing the straw "Mhm." She voiced her disapproval.

"Are you sure cake decorating counts as a talent?"

"Well… Um you told me that you don't know karate. Then you stepped on my feet during Salsa and then you straight up refused to try synchronized ribbon dancing." She said listing their previous ventures.

"Sorry my dignity wouldn't fit in a unitard." He said causing her to giggle.

She really loved his sense of humor.

"You know it's not too late to pull out that note book of lyrics that you have and sing something." She tried encourage him to get out of his shell. It seemed everyone was doing it that day.

"I don't really sing in front of people those songs are private." He responded shutting down that future avenue.

"Okay then decorating it is." Hope said resigning herself to her baker's fate "And you know what. You're going to like it." She said throwing some cinnamon on him. Which made her feel all the more bubbly as laughs escaped her body.

"I like whatever's gotten into you lately." He said pulling her closer.

"Yeah." She gleefully agreed leaning in for a kiss before a thought crossed her mind as their noses touched. "The only thing that would make this day better… is if we went and got rid of that urn." Which was a brilliant idea. But Landon didn't seem to think so with the way he was staring at her.

"As the person that stole the knife that started this whole thing, trust me that sounds like a bad idea." He responded dismissive.

"It will be fun. It will be like some kind of road trip. Let's just grab the damn thing and take it wherever it leads us." She said in defense. It was a reasonable idea.

"From what that necromancer told you Malivore is where that leads us. We have no idea where that is. Are you feeling okay?" He asked checking on her head.

"We can talk about it on the road." She said since he seemed to want to argue about it.

"I… Ah…The cake." He blurted out diverting his attention to the oven. Opening it letting loose some smoke causing him to choke on it. "Hope can you get the vent?" He asked still dealing with the oven.

She paused for a moment thinking of leaving him there while she went to go get the urn. But she decided to go switch it on before she left. When she switched it on it sent a shock throughout her body shocking her. It caused something weird and slimy to come out of her ear.

"Oh my god." She asked looking at the slime creature. "Landon. What is that?" She asked taking a closer look to inspect it."

Landon grabbed a knife and stabbed the slug.

"You ever see wrath of khan?" He asked holding up the slug on the knife.

* * *

With the creature out of her body it made her think more clearly. She had to find Dr. Saltzman because she had made a mistake the unicorn wasn't harmless. It was a Trojan horse.

"Mr. Williams." She called out coming closer to him. He was second in command if Hope couldn't find Dr. Saltzman. "We need your help. Dr. Saltzman has been M.I.A. and this creepy slug came out of my ear" she explained.

And when he turned around to face her he started to study her. Which made her wonder if she had made a tactical mistake in think she was the only one infected.

"Did it look like this?" He asked holding a jar with a slug inside.

"Yep. Exactly like that." Landon answered.

"This one tried getting into me. I was hoping it was the only one. I think our harmless friend the unicorn brought it on school grounds to infect all of us." He explained.

The unicorn neighed loudly drawing their attention to it. It started to collapse until it was dead.

"See harmless." Hope regretfully echoed her previous comments.

It was a warning sign to anyone that had been infected. Because their lives were now on a clock. They had to come up with a game plan to save anyone that might have been infected.

"Okay we have no idea how long the unicorn was infected before it keeled over so we should figure that out right now." Mr. Williams announced their first order of business.

"I thought only one monster comes after the urn at a time?" Landon asked taking a break from writing on his supernatural notebook.

"Except the unicorn wasn't the monster. It was just the host. To this thing." He said pointing at the jar "A parasite. It hitched a ride in that Trojan horse and then it moved on to us. From what Hope describes it sounds like it latches onto the prefrontal cortex. The part of the brain associated with inhibitions." He explained.

"So I was slug drunk?" She asked for further clarification.

"Since we have multiple slugs it must replicate inside the host and lie and wait for the opportunity to infect someone else." He further explained.

"I'm good on the gory details." Hope said disgusted by the thought of it. She didn't need an even clearer picture. "How do we stop it?" She asked back on task.

"That's the weirdest part. I can't find any ancient legends about a creature like this." Mr. Williams said exasperating Hope's concerns.

Landon on the other hand seemed ready for the bad news.

"Invasion of the body snatchers. The faculty." He said confusing Hope "Like I said Wrath of Khan. Sci-fi is our modern day myths. Meaning they could have been inspired by something. Right? In those movies it's all about mind control. Before the slug popped out Hope wanted to take the urn someplace. I'm guessing Malivore." Landon concluded.

"So it's like an infection. It gets worse as it spreads. Stage 1 it lowers your inhibitions. It makes you act out of character." Mr. Williams explained.

Which explained why the slug had affected Hope that way. She brought the jar up to take a closer look at the creature that had caused her happy day. But that wasn't really her.

"Stage 2 once you're susceptible to suggestion you'll do whatever the slug wants."

"Till stage 3. You go the way of the unicorn." Landon added.

As she kept inspecting the jar she noticed something.

"Did you see this? Parts of this thing look bioluminescent." She asked.

"Let me check that out." Mr. Williams said ruffling through his bag searching for something.

He pulled out a torch and asked Hope to pass the jar to him. He switched on the torch, brightening up the jar revealing it to have a green glow.

"Woow." All three said in unison. And Mr. Williams started to aim the torch at Hope.

"I don't want to know do I?" Hope asked noting their response.

"Probably not." Landon answered.

"Nope. Nope." Mr. Williams repeated. "You know what we can use these light to see anyone who has been infected." He started handing out flashlights to them. Before they went exploring to find possible victims of the slugs.

* * *

The trail to the slugs seemed to be everywhere. When they reached the main school lounge it started to look like a rave with all of the slug trails glowing as they light up the room with their torches.

With the amount of trails they had noticed a large portion of the school might have been infected.

"This is why I hate Sci-fi." Hope commented. She was more a fan of classical literature while dabbling into a bit of fantasy.

They heard footsteps headed towards them with a purpose. They turned with their lights still on shining it on Fiona.

Hope hadn't seen Fiona in hours but the last time she saw her she didn't seem to be affected by the slugs she was just her regular self. She wasn't sure Fiona was infected.

So when Hope saw her she froze. Fiona didn't. She started to make the motions for a spell. But thanks to Hope's supernatural reflexes and speed she was able to catch up to Fiona's movements and cast a spell of her own.

"Ikaeya." The girls simultaneously cast the spell.

The two telekinetic forces collided. Even without her full power Hope was still one of the strongest witches at the school. Fiona seemed to have been on that level because there was a negligible difference in the power of the two girls. Instead of one overpowering the other, the blowback hit both girls pushing them away.

Which was unexpected for Hope and the surprise causing her to recover slower than she usually would. Fiona wasn't beholden to that handicap and cast another spell before Hope could fully recover.

She found herself overwhelmed by a force pushing her back until she hit the wall and held her in place there. And with the biggest threat to her momentarily neutralized she cast another spell flinging back Landon and Mr. Williams holding them in place next to Hope. As the force kept pushing they groaned.

Hope had been blindsided by the incredible strength Fiona possessed. But she was done underestimating her roommate. And once she got her full concentration she would break out of her hold.

"She's infected" Landon stated the obvious.

"I'm not the one that's infected." Fiona explained increasing the force of her push. While also confusing Hope and the others.

Hope broke out Fiona's hold which made the other girl finally freeze. And Hope threw all her power at Fiona. Who wasn't quick enough to defend and was overwhelmed. There was an advantage to being a part werewolf especially a crescent, her speed was greater than all but vampires.

"Wait a minute maybe she's not infected." Mr. Williams posed as Landon rushed over to the knocked down Fiona.

He shun the flashlight on her face, while Hope readied herself incase another attack came. She wasn't going to be caught unprepared twice.

"There are Slug markings on her face but she is no entry trails. She's clean." Landon confirmed putting Hope at ease.

"Like is said I'm not the one that's infected." Fiona responded as Landon helped her from the floor

"Then why'd you attack us." Landon asked.

"Because I knew Hope was infected and I wasn't sure if you guys where clean. Some slug creature tried to go through my nose wrath of khan style." She said causing Landon joy as someone made the same reference he did "But I caught it before it could. I thought it was going to try and mind control me and then I remembered how weird Hope was acting so I had to stop her before she could do anything." Fiona explained.

"I was infected, but I managed to get the slug out of me." Hope explained to a skeptical Fiona.

"And I was never infected see." Landon flashed the light around his face showing no slug trails.

"Oh." Fiona seemed to finally accept "Well then sorry for jumping to conclusions." She apologized.

"It's okay but we have to find out who else was infected." Mr. Williams enlisted Fiona to help them look for slugs.

* * *

With now four of them they continued following the slug trails towards the assembly hall where the talent show was being hosted. Most of the entire school was there which meant they were all infected. They were pretty bleak odds. 4 people against an entire school of mind controlled supernaturals.

"We need a way to deslugg whoever is infected. Fast." Mr. Williams stated realizing the odds.

"When I touched the switch to the kitchen vent it shocked me. And that's when the slug popped out."

"Great then we just have to find a way to electrocute every student in the school without killing them" Landon added with his morbid sense of humor.

"If we don't they are dead anyway. I'm going to call Ric." Mr. Williams announced walking away.

"And we're back here comes our next act." The DJ announced grabbing their attention.

"All right Rafael." Someone in the crowd screamed.

"My name is Rafael and my talent is spoken word poetry." Rafael announced to the crowd snapping their fingers.

"Oh no he promised he wouldn't do this again."

"I think it's cute." Fiona chimed in vocalizing Hope's thoughts.

"Stillness." He started off with someone playing the cello "A light breaks inside… Unity and division, tension." Raf went on his spoken word poetry.

Hope saw the way Raf had exposed himself in the public. Opening himself up to embarrassment.

"Suddenly I remember why I didn't want to be in the talent show."

"All of these wolves staring at me waiting for the answer. Expectation is a cancer. Oh you can't sir. Then who will." Raf said sorrowful.

His words were easy to decipher. He had resigned himself to his fate as alpha. Raf had always told Hope how stifling it was for him to be alpha. He had even tried to relinquish the position on to Duncan but he had refused. But she didn't realize it was eating him up that badly.

He spotted them and waved at the cellist to stop playing. He was going A Capella.

"Two brothers brought up together. Then ones left behind because he's no longer needed. Violence inside of me inside I'm bleeding." He expressed.

Now his words were a lot harder to decipher.

"What's he talking about?" Hope asked Landon.

"And I can't believe what I'm feeling. Since the moment you danced with me. Buried so deep, rising up enchanting me. And it won't go away. And I was never jealous of anything that you had. Until today." Raf confessed.

His words caused a ripple effect throwing the rug from under Hope and Landon. There were things under the surface that never should have made it into the light of day. Raf's feelings were one of them.

After his confession he seemed pensive. Not as though he wanted to change his words instead it was like he was waiting on the consequences.

"Why is that artifact here?" He asked with visible rage. "Monsters coming. People running. Ask for answers always nothing." He said with the crowed jumping up from their seats. "I say we get rid of it." His eye glowed.

Not with the golden yellow of a werewolf but with emerald. As he pointed at the three of them. The crowed with glowing emerald eyes of their own began to face the trio.

"You heard him let's go." Someone from the crowd shouted. "It's mine." Another shouted as they began to move towards the trio.

"So they are all infected." Hope stated.

As those in the crowd with super speed moved up the stair. But were pushed back down by Fiona's spell as they made a move to leave.

"Yeah I'm not going to stick around and find out." Landon stated running ahead of the pack.

"Vesta la potus." Hope spelled the door shut once the trio was out of it. "That will hold the pod people in long enough let's go."

They had to go find Mr. Williams. He had to have a better idea to deal with the people.

"I sealed the doors with a spell but it won't hold them." Hope told Mr. Williams once the found him.

"Alright these chains should help come up with a better solution." Mr. Williams plan seemed to be to stall. "I'll get the doors down stairs." He announced leaving in a hurry.

"At least we have all the infected people in one place." Hope tried to see the silver lining.

"What are you three doing out here." Lizzie called out behind them.

And on cue Fiona did her thing. And they were able to subdue and chain her with minimal harm.

"What is wrong with you three?" Lizzie complained.

"You've been infected with a mind controlling parasite." Hope answered "That's why you've been nice all day." Hope concluded.

"That is not why I have been…" Lizzie tried to explain but Landon inspected her entry holes with a torch "Hey!" she complained

"I don't see any slug trail." Landon concluded.

"What are you freaks talking about?" Lizzie asked before squirming in pain with a buzzing sound coming from her. "Ow!"

"What was that?" Landon asked.

"Unchain me and maybe I will tell you. You thrift store hobbit" Lizzie insulted Landon causing her to gasp in pain with another buzzing sound.

"Yeah I don't think she's infected." Landon concluded.

"Then why are you acting so weird?"

"I am not acting weird. I am turning over a new leaf." Lizzie said in defense. "With this." She indicated towards her bracelet. "I spelled it to zap me whenever I said anything mean. Worst Idea ever." Lizzie explained.

"No, that's genius that's why there's no slug in her. She's been zapping herself." Landon explained starting to unchain her with the help of Fiona.

"Then why are you out here. Instead of being at the talent show like everyone else?" Hope asked.

"I was looking for Josie. She's been acting weird all day and then she just bailed on the performance."

Hope gasped realizing there was a witch on the loose that could siphon the magic from her boundary spell.

"Probably infected." Lizzie came to the same conclusion.

"We need to find her. Now!" Hope declared.

* * *

She had decided to take Fiona and Lizzie with her in case Josie had company and they wouldn't go quietly. While leaving Landon and the rest of the faculty to debug the rest of the student population. With overwhelming power and numbers on their side. Hope's team easily dealt with Thelma and Louise.

But after taking down Josie and Penelope. They remembered that there was another person out there who would have been slugged. Someone that even with their inhibitions lowered would never be caught dead at a talent show.

No one knew exactly where he was. But there were two places he would have been. Either his room or the barn. With how late at night it was he was probably at the former. After sending of Lizzie and Josie to secure the urn Fiona decided to go there while Hope checked out the barn.

She wanted to take him in as peacefully as possible. The only electrocution spells she knew was close range. It required her to get in close and personal to shock him. And a confrontation between the two was not advisable.

So instead of coming in hot and heavy because she might spook him and cause a confrontation. She choose the slow and methodical route. She was going to be as amicable as possible to get in and shock him. She hoped the good mood he was in earlier was still there.

"Hope." He called out the moment she entered the barn "I'm glad I caught you before I left." He said leaving her with a lot of questions.

"Where are you going to Duncan?" She asked inching closer to him.

"I have some business to take of in Ireland. And I might not be back." He answered divulging far more information than he usually would. But still seemed cryptic.

"You're leaving the school for good?" She asked. The thought of him leaving the school for good didn't sit right with her. No matter their problems she didn't want him gone.

"Yes." He bluntly stated "Which is why I'm glad I caught you before I left."

"And why is that? You couldn't resist to tell me you hate me before your grand exit."

"No. It's because your one of the few people I'll actually remember from my time here. And for the record I never said I hated you. I actually quite like you. In another life we could have been friends." He confessed confusing her.

He had always been adamant on his disapproval of her. And had told her to her face to kill the notion that they would ever be friends. But there he was talking like a man on his death bed.

"Why are you confessing like your about to die?" She asked close enough to zap him. But she wanted to find out more while his inhibitions were lowered. Otherwise he would revert back to stoic and secretive self.

"We all die someday. But I'd like to die with the least amount of regrets." He declared.

With them inches apart it was easy for him to move in closer. At first she thought he wanted to attack her but she was slow in her reaction. Instead he had moved in for a kiss, that was ought of left field. What was even more out of left wield was that she kissed him back. Until he finally pulled away still holding her as she looked up into his eyes and he looked down at hers.

There was no look of disdain hidden beneath the surface nor was there a look of indifference on the surface. Gone were the looks that killed any chance of the tribrid and the lone wolf ever being a thing. Instead he seemed happy and held no animosity as he held her in his arms.

It brought up feelings she had since long buried. Feelings that came about when she thought she had found another outcast just like her. Someone who didn't fit in. Feelings that still persisted even after she had been rebuffed because he didn't fit with her causing them to clash. Feelings she had finally buried once she realized he wouldn't change and they would always be at odds.

But there he was seemingly satisfied after kissing her and holding her in his arms. Making her think there was actually a chance for them after all of those years. This was the person her 14 year old self dreamt about. But she remembered that this wasn't him, this wasn't who he really was. This was him under the influence of the slugs. She remembered who he really was. And more importantly she remembered who he wasn't.

"You're not Landon." She said shocking him.

He grimaced is pain as the electricity passed through him and the slug jumped out. She instantly stomped on it. The cause of everything that had transpired over the last few minutes was now dead. And so was that Duncan.

Even without the slugs control him he didn't revert back to his natural state. He was vulnerable without his mask of indifference. Because she could see the pain, hurt and regret written all over his face. She didn't know what to say to him and she never got the chance.

"I'm sorry." He said rushing away from her and leaving.

She didn't stop him because she too needed sometime to regroup. She stood there alone in his domain still trying to process what had happened. And what would happen because of it.

* * *

The stupid slugs had messed everything up for him. He had made a choice never to reveal his feelings for Hope to either of them. But with his inhibitions lowered he didn't make the hard choice and stick to the road he had chosen.

He had chosen the easy road and had jeopardized his friendship with both of them. Now that it was out it the open he couldn't put the genie back in its bottle. But he was going to do his hardest to make sure it did

"Hey… wait up. Raf." Landon called out to him. Stopping him in his track "Uh… We got somethings we should talk about?" Landon asked what Raf didn't want to answer.

"Dude, you know I had that thing in me making me act all crazy. I don't even know what I said." Raf tried to brush it off with a lie. He hated how much he had lied to Landon already.

"Attention students. Given the incredibly odd and stressing day we've all had. I'm thinking we can all use a little pick me up. Like a talent show redo." Dr. Saltzman announced over the PA system.

A round of applause was heard from the rest of the students but Raf hated that the talent show was still on. The only silver lining he could think of was that even though he had opened a can of worms he wouldn't have to preform ever again.

"Ah so were good?" Landon asked going back on topic. "Like for real?"

"Yeah." Raf faked his enthusiasm "Always." He shook his hand bringing him in for a half hug "I'm happy for you."

And it wasn't a lie. After everything that happened to them Landon deserved Hope more than he did. Nobody ever accused Landon of being a chick magnet. The guy had had a tougher time growing up than even Raf. So he was rife with insecurity, but Hope was good for him. She gave him a chance that most people wouldn't have. And he was making sure he didn't let her down.

Raf wasn't going to step on Landon's toes just because he caught feelings that he shouldn't have.

"Thanks man. See you." Landon said as Raf walked away

"Alright." He responded.

Once he rounded the corner out of Landon's sight. Raf stopped and leaned on the wall heartbroken. It was hard doing the right thing. And his heart was divided over it. His feelings for Hope kept growing and he couldn't stop them. He had to resign himself to being the guy that was in love with his brother's girl.

* * *

He was supposed to be the kid that didn't care about anyone and no one cared about. That was how he had designed his life over the past 4 years. He couldn't afford to get attached. It was bad enough he had Raf and Fiona to tether him now with Hope it was becoming unbearable.

He couldn't claim not to care when there were so many people that contradicted that notion. And it made him angry. Angry at himself for caring. Angry at himself for not getting on the plane to go finish the job. But what truly pissed him of was that he didn't want to be alone.

The slug had exasperated everything he was feeling under the surface. Feelings he had done his best to kill and bury deep. They served no other purpose but to torture him and making him suffer for choosing the darker path.

There was a war within himself he had spent 4 years trying to prevent. He didn't know what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he wanted it to stop.

He found her standing outside his door waiting for him.

"You're grumpy again." She said noticing his scowl. "That means you've been de-slugged." She concluded

"Yeah." He confirmed.

"I'm still keeping the bottle though."

"It was a gift." Duncan didn't regret giving her the bottle. He was unworthy of it.

"Good." She said as she walked over and pressed her lips against his for the second time that day. This time it was just a little peck

"That was for acting like an actual human being today." She dejectedly confided in him placing her head on his chest. "Even though you were under the influence of the slugs and your inhibitions were lowered. You didn't act like some wild animal and go of on some rampage. You were actually great to hang around." She continued. Raising her head to show single tear going down her face as she looked him in the eyes. "It made me have hope for you. That maybe just beneath the surface there was still a part of you that didn't confuse anger with caring. I just wish it wasn't the last time I saw that version of you." Her eyes were pleading with him to be the person she wanted him to be. The guy she wanted.

But he stood there immovable. Unsure of what to do, because she didn't know the truth. Nor what he had been planning to do that day. If Hope hadn't stopped him, he would have gone on the war path.

She could see the turmoil within him, and how hard it was for him to make the right decision. So she made a move to leave when she didn't get the answer she was looking for. But he stopped her.

He didn't tell her the truth. That even under the influence of the slugs he was still going to get himself killed. He didn't tell her about the violence he wanted to inflict. Instead he said nothing and he kissed her.

He kissed her because she wanted him and he didn't want to be alone. But mostly he kissed her because she wasn't Hope. For one night he didn't make the noble choice.

* * *

She had been acting ridiculous while she was under control of the slugs but she was happy. The things she said, the way she acted. It seemed the like the only thing that kept her from being happy was herself. That just under the surface that was what she was.

The entire day had brought to transparency to her life. Shining a light on things she never noticed and things that never made sense. It had also brought up questions to things she didn't realize she wanted the answers to.

There was another place she should have gone. A place she was meant to be. But she wanted closure. Of all the things that had happened that day. The one thing she wanted closure from was probably the hardest to attain. He was no longer vulnerable and open.

But she couldn't stop thinking about what happened between them when his inhibitions were lowered. Maybe that was what laid under the surface. She wasn't sure but she wanted to find out. So she went to his room.

With every step she took she wanted to stop herself but she couldn't find the will to do so. In her search for truth and closure she wasn't sure what answers she would find. She didn't even know what answers she wanted to find. But that didn't deter her from going to find out.

What did deter her was finding him just outside his door. Locking lips with another person only hours after doing the same to her. From the red hair she knew it was Fiona.

For all the bad things she could use to describe Duncan she never thought she would use the word gigolo.

She walked away having gotten closure but not the one she was looking for. There was no catharsis for her. Only anger at him for bouncing from one girl to the other. And anger at herself for deluding herself into thinking he cared and getting herself hurt. Above all else anger for going to him first instead of Landon.

* * *

 **AN:** As always I am interested to here what you guys think of the story and my characterizations of the O.C.s and the Canon characters. This time I'm more interested to here you thoughts on the love triangle I'm developing. As a fan of the TVD universe I have always been against the use love triangles, but I just wanted to test it out one time. I know technically its a clusterfuck of teen drama with Landon, Raf, Fiona, Duncan and Hope in the middle of it all.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Following the events of ep 12 and 13 from the P.O.V. of Raf, Duncan and Hope. Primarily Raf.

One night of reckless abandon had turned into a week. He had long since gotten his sense after their first night together. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But he had failed to rally the conviction necessary to do what needed to be done.

He couldn't keep lying to her. But he couldn't stand to break her heart. He had already done it once before. And chose to isolate himself from ever caring or hurting anyone again. He knew the path he had chosen and the things he would have to sacrifice to achieve it. He had made the choice before and suffered 4 years for it.

Now he was hesitant to make the choice again. Not after he relapsed and invalidated everything he had done before. All the hours he had spent restraining himself from caring. Focusing on one goal that would either offer him absolution or complete annihilation. A goal that could end up hurting all those who cared for him if he received the latter.

He had a Sophie's choice to hurt her now by cutting her loose or destroy her later once he got himself killed. He was rife with indecision because he cared about her, but not the way she cared for him.

She had truly cared about him while he had used her. Now he was too much of a coward to tell her the truth. The only reason she was still in his bed with her arm around his body, was because she didn't know the whole truth.

"Hey." Fiona greeted waking up.

"Morning."

"What's got you so broody in the morning?" She noted the solemn expression on his face.

This was his chance. He knew there was no such thing as the opportune time to break someone's heart. He had to rip the Band-Aid of so that they could both have time to heal.

"Nothing." He lied faking a smile and kissing her on her forehead. But she wasn't buying it. "It's a full moon tonight." He lied again instead of coming clean but this time she bought it.

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." She solemnly said hugging him. "Are you going to be okay?" Her concern was palpable.

Which made him feel like even more of a scumbag. When he didn't tell her the truth.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." He said putting on a brave face. He was so noble, lying to a girl that cared about him as much as she did. "We have to get up for the day." He said changing the topic before he ended up having to lie to her more.

She had her morning workout routine. He had his. Afterwards she would go back to her room to get a fresh set of clothes. Despite spending every night together they weren't at the co-habitation stage yet. He had to stop it before it got there.

"Yeah. We also have that assembly later on. Save me a seat." She kissed him before getting out of bed and putting on her clothes.

While he laid there on his headboard watching. His eyes taking in the sight while his head and heart begged him to do what was right. He didn't belong with her. He belonged in the 8th circle of hell with all the liars and frauds.

"All right everyone listen up. Absolutely no one leaves campus unless you're in the custody of your guardian. Now with the full moon approaching. This rules especially applies to our wolves." Dr. Saltzman announced from the podium "Now you know the drill. Vampires to your dorms. Wolves to your bunkers. Absolutely no exceptions. Just because we have a cure for werewolf bites doesn't mean they won't hurt like hell. Now for those of you who are staying behind we have some activities planned to ensure that your…"Dr. Saltzman was interrupted by MG handing him a note. "Vacation will be the. Dopest, coldest spring break ever." He announced like a DJ at a club. "All right here's MG everybody." He stepped aside for MG.

"Are your mom and dad dead? No place for you in human society?" MG asked causing Raf to chuckle "Does being alone leave you triggered?" MG continued to ask but this time Raf didn't chuckle.

Raf had never been triggered by being alone but he was getting well acquainted with the idea. He looked over to see Landon and Hope who he had barley spoken to over the week. He wasn't really in the mood to be a third wheel especially after the slug had made him say those things that should have been buried. He didn't even have the luxury of getting drunk with Duncan because he too was joined at the hip with a girl. He and Fiona where sitting back at the back of the row.

"If your answer to any of these questions is yes it's okay. The holiday committee has your back."

He felt someone tap his back. So he leaned on his back to hear them.

"Aye bro. I need to do me a favor. Can you look after him? While I'm gone on this trip with Dr. S." Kaleb asked "MG is doing this little happy act thing, but he gets really weird around holidays."

"Why?" Raf asked.

"His family. They… They never invite him home. So you know just hit up his little events. And…"

Raf was reluctant to spend his day with MG. Especially after what he did to him.

"Come on man. It's… it's the least you can do especially after getting down and dirty with the love of his life." Kaleb casually threw that out in the open in a room full of people with supernatural hearing.

But what had Raf concerned was that Kaleb even knew about it. He looked back wanting to know how he knew

"Oh yeah everybody knows." Kaleb said still casual. While Raf looked around to see if his wolves had heard "Yeah them too they know." Kaleb confirmed.

Causing Raf to sigh. Realizing what people must have thought of him.

"So?" Kaleb nonchalantly asked getting back on task.

"Alright whatever bro. Me and Lan will hang with your boy. Alright. It's not like we have anything else to do" He lamented.

With Hope going on her trip leaving Landon behind. It was just going to be the two of them. Now MG was added to the mix.

He shook Kaleb's hand resigning himself to spend the day with the guy with whose girl he had slept with and the guy whose girl he was in love.

"Dr. Saltzman this van is very… White of you." Kaleb commented.

"It's retro."Dr. Slatzma said in defense.

The pedestrian car was older than most of the people in the car and the ac didn't work. Hope could feel the heat as she crouched over in search of snacks.

"It's a gas guzzling atrocity on wheels" Lizzie added her spiteful 2 cents.

"I brought snacks." Hope said as she started handing them out.

"Oh sweet. Did you pack them before or after you decided to FOMO your way on to our trip?" Lizzie asked still bitter that Hope was going with them.

"Like I'm going to let you guys chase monsters without me." She replied in her defense.

"I would have thought you'd want to spend the break canoodiling with your hipster boyfriend." Lizzie continued with her bitchy banter.

Hope had already spent the past week doing exactly that. But she needed a break from it. And sometime away from boy troubles.

"Sorry for wanting to protect the outside world from my mistakes. You know there's currently an urn on a river cruise, spreading plagues around America because I thought a unicorn was cute. It's called accountability. Maybe there's a bracelet for it." Hope responded with her own bitchy slight.

"Oof." Kaleb responded from the front seat.

"Or maybe you just wanted to ruin yet another Saltzman family spring break." Lizzie levied an accusation against her.

"When have I ever ruined spring break?" She asked.

"Girls. We are going to be in this classic automobile for 6 hours right. So no bickering." Dr. Saltzman ordered them.

"It would help if it wasn't a 1000 degrees in here. I'm burning up." Hope explained fanning herself.

"You're burning up. Now that's ironic." Lizzie levied another accusation.

"What does that even mean?" She asked confused.

"Don't play dumb I see you. I see right through you." Lizzie continued to talk crazy.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What happened to playing nice?"

"Over. Done. I'm getting back to me. I am who I am. Right Josie? Josie?" Lizzie reached over trying to get Josie's attention.

"Sorry?" Josie asked removing an earbud.

"Josie you cannot leave me alone with just her for company." Lizzie complained to Josie whilst also taking a jab at Hope.

"Well I get car sick if I don't listen to music." Josie explained putting the earbud back on.

"Josie!" Lizzie reached over trying to stop her sister.

"Hey." Hope complained as the conflict between the sisters was infringing on her personal space. But Lizzie didn't stop.

"Girls!" Dr. Saltzman shouted grabbing their attention "There is no reason to be tense or awkward. Now knock it off. We are going to get through this together. God help us all."

Hope was glad when she heard they had to go on a road trip to stop the next monster. She had needed sometime away from the school to escape her boy drama and her roommate. The entire week had been awkward for her. She had spent most of it with her boyfriend failing to mention she had kissed another guy. And that guy was the same guy who had started sleeping with her roommate.

She didn't feel as guilty keeping the secret from Fiona because she was barley there. She had basically moved into Duncan's room because she spent every night there and only came to their room in the morning to collect a fresh set of clothes.

It was a relief to get away from it all and focus on hunting the monster instead of her own guilt. It was why she hadn't asked Landon to come even though there was space in the car.

It turned out she had traded on drama for another.

"Whoop road trip." Kaleb added.

When he had made the deal. He hadn't realized he would have preferred getting his ribs broken by Duncan. The mind numbing boringness of faction feud made him think of the other thousand things he could have done.

Landon was in the same boat. Neither of them were even trying. The only person who was actually playing the game and being entertained was MG.

"Survey says you just got owned." MG rang the bell getting another point. "Don't be mad. This stuff is in my blood. My dad is a trivia god. We play games like this all the time." He bragged "Well we used to. You know before the." He alluded to his vampirism.

That stroke Landon's interest making him sit up on the couch for the first time in 30 minutes.

"Wait let me get this straight. You died and then became a vampire. And then your dad just ghosted you?" Landon asked.

"Pretty much." MG confirmed which made Raf feel bad for the dude. "Ah I hear from my mom all the time. She says like he's busy. Um either way we don't talk." He expressed sadly.

"Well maybe you should." Landon offered his opinion.

"Or maybe somethings are better of unsaid right Lan?" Raf advised trying to discourage Landon from going down that route.

Growing up in foster he knew people and their messed up families was can of worms Raf didn't want opened. He thought Landon had learnt the same.

"Sure. But I mean the whole point of having family is so that you can be an actual family. Talk about stuff." Landon continued disregarding Raf's advice "Look all I'm trying to say is if you want answers, I'll help you get them. Because I would do anything to avoid another round of Faction Feud."

He had hoped that MG would have said no but he had been convinced by Landon and the both of them outvoted him. He was alpha of the wolves but not of the two of them. But they were his responsibility. So he had to go along.

After an awkward conversation with Penelope Park thanking him for breaking up with Lizzie on her birthday while MG was there. They got a cloaking spell and went on their way to Maryland.

"For the record I didn't know grand theft auto was a part of the plan." MG complained as they were walking around his neighborhood.

"No, it's not stealing if you return it." Landon replied with his sardonic humor.

"Yeah well tell that to Dr. Saltzman." Raf replied.

He was the one that was going to get into trouble if Dr. Saltzman ever found out. He was the only one with a driver's license, and knew where the keys where.

MG was acting weird and suspicious as a couple of old ladies speed walked by.

"You got some vicious street gangs around here." Landon commented

"Why do you think we parked in an alley way. Everyone thinks I'm dead I can't be seen here." MG explained as they ended up at his house.

"You never mentioned your dad was a politician." Landon said taking note of the 'Vote Greasley For Mayor' sign right outside MG's house.

"He's not. At least he wasn't." MG replied as they made their way to his front door "He's running for mayor. Maybe Raf's right maybe this was a mistake." MG said final showing doubt.

It wasn't too late for them to turn back, but Landon had other intentions.

"The truth is never a mistake." He adamantly said striving forward. "Took me a long time to figure that out." He added ringing on the doorbell.

Moments later MG's mom answered the door confused by their presence.

"I'm sorry who are you and why are you here?" She asked.

Neither Landon nor Raf knew how to answer that question but MG stepped from behind them.

"Ah… Hi mom."

"Milton. I wasn't expecting you." MG's mom replied.

"Yeah it's spring break." MG said trying to offer an explanation.

"Yes I know but I thought we agreed it would be best for you to stay on campus." She responded shutting down MG's flimsy excuse.

"Ah… Mrs. Greasley hi. I'm Landon Kirby." He said stepping in for MG while Raf stood of to the side not knowing what to do but wave "Ah my brother Rafael and I, we're new with the school and we really didn't have anywhere to go for spring break. So we sort of talked your son into a spontaneous road trip." Landon offered another flimsy excuse.

Raf shook his head, for a guy who wanted the truth Landon was rather quick with his lies. Mrs. Greasley on the other hand wasn't buying any of it.

"Which now seems to have been a hasty decision." Landon continued on deaf ears.

"We obviously came at the wrong time. So I'll just say high to dad and we'll be on our way. Where's he at?" MG asked

"Your father is not here. He's…" She tried to find the words to sugarcoat the truth.

Raf could hear her heartbeat and she was gearing up for lies.

"Running for mayor." MG either knowingly or unknowingly saved himself from hearing lies.

"The governor thinks he has a great shot at winning." She replied.

"Y'all know the governor now?" MG asked

"A lot has changed since you… died." She put it bluntly after failing to sugarcoat it.

"Yeah. I can see that." MG replied demoralized.

"You know we love you very much Milton. But the world thinks you're dead if someone were to see you walking around in your old home town…"

"But I'm not staying. I just wanna see dad."

"Your father doesn't want to see you." MG's mom put it bluntly.

Crushing a piece of every boy there. They were words no kid ever wanted to hear. But at some point in the foster system some had to accept it. Raf had accepted it a long time ago but Landon still hadn't.

"His faith is everything to him and you know there is no room in his belief system for people dying and coming back to life."

"Except for Jesus and Lazarus." Landon added. Drawing indignation from MG's mom

"He'll come around. It's just gonna take some time for him to get used to the idea." She said knowing it was a lie.

MG had better hearing than Raf so he could probably tell she was lying too. Which crushed his spirits even more.

"That's his loss then." Raf said coming to the defense of MG.

The dopey kid didn't deserve to be treated like the red headed step child. Especially by his parents.

"Let's just go man come on. Come on." Raf pulled MG who was still processing.

They weren't going to stay where they weren't wanted. Raf put a comforting hand on MG's shoulder as he led him away from the house.

Raf should have put down his foot from the beginning. He was supposed to be looking after MG, not exposing him to family drama. Kaleb had already warned Raf about how bad things were between MG and his family. But he had let Landon convince the kid that it was a good idea.

Now here they were. With a depressed MG siting at the back of the car. Asking himself question that only foster kids should ever ask. Like why his parents don't love him.

"I know you think you're helping but your not. I mean just look at him." Raf tried to make sure that Landon didn't push things further.

That was the most depressed they had ever seen the happy go lucky kid.

"Well just take it from someone that's been in the dark his whole life. At least he knows the truth."

His heart was in the right place. But he was also trying to live vicariously through MG. Hoping that if he could help MG find answers, then he could find answers as well.

"And sometimes the truth hurts. You know that better than anybody. Hey his dad is religious. If Hector and Maria taught us anything. It's what? Religious people aren't too flexible in their beliefs."

"Hey! Raf's right my dad's not gonna want a vampire in the family. It is what it is." MG chimed in.

"It is what it is?" Landon was appalled by MG throwing in the towel "Or maybe it's worse." Landon made his way to confront MG "Look." He said handing him a newspaper "I took that from your parent's mailbox. Your dad became a prominent figure after he gave a sermon that went viral. A sermon about how he would give anything to have you back. It is one thing to cut you out of his life. It is another thing to use your memory to get votes." Landon argued.

Raf could see the wheels turning in MG's head. MG was an incredibly impressionable kid and Landon was great at making emotional arguments. But Raf had to step in before history repeated its self.

"We can comeback another time." Raf said grabbing the newspaper "It's only a couple of hours until moonrise." He tried to switch the conversation.

"We can do both." Landon argued "Your dad is giving another speech tonight. And and it's on the way home." He kept persisting.

"Landon please stop pushing." Raf begged exasperated by Landon's persistence.

"Landon I don't know if I…" MG tried to argue

"Listen to me. I would give anything to ask my mom and dad why they gave me up. You actually have a chance to." Landon appealed to emotion again.

And MG agreed. There was no way to deter the guys especially Landon from seeing it through. And Raf was out voted again despite raising his concerns. But they fell on deaf ears. Landon was driven and MG was easy to emotionally manipulate.

So they ended up driving to the church. Landon wasn't lying when he said it was on the way home. They were in Richmond which was about 2 hours away from the school.

But just like before when the moment of truth came MG was hesitant. He had Raf on his shoulder telling him that they could just keep driving, but Landon egged him on making him choose to go in the church.

Raf hadn't been in a church since his first transformation. But there he was a werewolf walking into a church with a vampire by his side. And neither of them combusted in flames. Which made his loss of faith even more justified.

"When my son used to get in trouble. He'd always say 'But dad you're forgetting about all the good things I did today. After I lost him everything in the world seemed bad. But I'm not going to let despair win. I am running for mayor because my son, taught me a valuable lesson. Because I don't want us to forget all the good we still can do." Mr. Greasley practiced his speech.

He was the only one inside the building besides them.

"What are you waiting for?" Landon asked.

"Well for starters I can't feel my legs." MG replied

"Someone there?" Mr. Greasley asked. While they were still at the entrance of the church.

MG was starting to walk forward but Raf felt the need to stop him. But he wasn't going to impose his will on the dude so he let him go.

"If you're so concerned about doing good. You might want to take some time to see your son." MG said looking forward.

"Milton? Is that you?" Mr. Greasley asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Obviously." MG responded.

"Good lord. My eyes must be playing trick on me." Mr. Greasley said still skeptical.

"It's me. The same son you're preaching about. Who's apparently going to win all of these elections for you. Who you haven't called in almost a year." MG replied emotionally.

"Lord if this is a test. Clear my eyes and let me see the truth." Mr. Greasley said staring at the cross.

Instead of disbelief that his son was staring him in the face. He seemed to believe that it was a test from God. Mrs. Greasley was right when she said he was deeply rotted in his faith. The man almost seemed like a zealot.

"Pops. Don't you love me anymore?" MG responded hurt at his father's refusal to accept his existence.

"My Boy." He said seemingly accepting that MG was real "My beautiful boy. I prayed and prayed. And the good lord brought you back to me." He wept hugging his son.

"Prayers cool and all but you could've just picked up the phone." MG replied

"I saw you on that terrible night. With my own 2 eyes I saw you. Now you're here. Risen. A miracle sent to me from our lord in heaven."

Oh shit. Raf and Landon exchanged looks realizing what was real going on. Mr. Greasley really thought that MG was dead. He truly had no idea what had been going on with MG or what he had become. And he simply put it on God for resurrecting his son.

Raf too had had a love one resurrected and he knew just how emotional it could get. They needed time to get reacquainted.

The sun had already set and his change would start soon.

They didn't want to leave MG behind but they weren't going to interrupt the father son reunion. So they started driving back as fast as they could. But they weren't going to make it. By the time they would reach the school Raf would have already begun to change and wouldn't be able to get to the bunkers without posing a threat to every student.

Duncan had once told him how dangerous a werewolf was in wolf form. He didn't want the blood of his fellow students on his hands. So Landon came up with another plan. They had tried to find a place as secluded as they could. In the middle of the woods an hour away from school. Raf had had the foresight to bring chains just in case but had forgotten the wolfsbane.

"I'm not sure this going to work." He told Landon while he was stuck fastening the chains around the trees.

"Oh. To be honest bro this is a first for me but if you have a better idea I'm all ears." Landon replied starting to lock the chains.

"A better plan would've been not leaving the school at all." He replied blaming Landon.

"Well excuse me for wanting to help MG. Or you." Landon defended his action

"And we are both screwed. Cause what you couldn't find your parents. So you made him get answers from his. That's not right." Raf continued to blame Landon.

But Landon wasn't the only on at fault. Raf should have put his foot down from the get go instead of taking a laissez-faire attitude the entire day. He would have saved MG from some heart ache and avoid endangering Landon.

"Answers that make his life better. And this is coming for the guy who won't have the conversation." Landon accused Raf.

"What conversation?" He asked confused.

He had long put his wishes for family and answers to bed. If his family had wanted him they would have kept him. Instead they gave him up and put him in foster care when he was a baby. The only thing they had ever given was his name. He didn't even know his parents' names and he didn't want to.

"The conversation you have been avoiding. All week. Oh hey look at that I have the key to the padlock so where having it." He said throwing away the key.

"I don't know what you're talking about." But he had a sneaking suspicion.

"Raf Come on man."

"What?" He asked still playing dumb.

"Look… we both know you have feelings for Hope." Landon put it out in the open. Making sure there was no confusions.

Raf couldn't hide behind misunderstanding or simply brush it off. But he was going to try.

"That was the slug talking." Raf said in defense

"The slug lowered your inhibitions, but it didn't make you do anything you didn't already want to do." Landon debunked Raf's defense.

Leaving him cornered having no choice but to face it head on.

"Whether or not I have feelings it don't matter. Cause I would never act on them. I would never." Raf said with full conviction.

He had long since made up his mind on the situation. But he didn't want to talk about it. Somethings were better of buried. But Landon's persistence kept digging them back up.

"I know. Of course I know that." Landon admitted.

"Bro. Then why did you just make me say that?" Raf asked seriously confused.

"Because Raf. I have seen what happens when you bottle stuff up inside. Sooner or later that bottle's going to shatter. And I Hate seeing you in pain." Landon explained.

But he was going to get used to seeing Raf in pain. Especially that night. Because Raf felt the first bone break.

"Ow!" He screamed

"Woow. What do I do? What do I do?" Landon asked panicking.

"You gotta get out of here. Grab MG and steer clear of the woods until morning." Raf warned him.

"No there's no way. I'm going to stay here and were going to get through this together. Like we always have." Landon said choosing to foolishly stay in solidarity.

They heard a sound coming from the woods.

"What the hell was that?" Landon asked terrified by the sound.

"I don't know." Raf responded.

With his hearing heightened he could hear far more than usual. Whatever it was it was moving fast. Supernaturally fast and on the night of the full moon. It might have either been a vampire or worse. Another werewolf.

Raf wasn't scared of the of it being a vampire. It was a full moon and he was the apex predator. He wasn't scared of it being another werewolf because werewolves don't usually harm other werewolves. But Landon didn't have those privileges.

"Landon look at me. You need to run." He warned him.

"Not without you." Landon started to search for the key he had thrown on the ground earlier.

After finding the key he tried to unlock the chains on Raf. But another bone broke scaring Landon.

"I said run!" He shouted this time with his eyes glowing. He wasn't going to be able to control himself much longer.

"I told you I am not leaving you alone." Landon repeated adamantly.

The sounds kept coming spooking Landon even more. He tried to grab a log of wood to defend himself. But it wouldn't do him any good. Even with a weapon Landon was not the kind of person you could classify as a fighter. He usually had Raf to do it for him.

Luckily he wasn't going to put his martial capabilities to the test because the creature that was making all of those sounds revealed itself

"Dammit MG." Landon said in relief dropping the log. "You scared the crap out of me."

"MG you can't be here. I'm about to turn. It's not safe." Raf warned.

Werewolves preferred to hunt vampires on instinct. And Raf didn't want to put the kid in danger. Especially since he was supposed to be looking after him. He had already allowed him to get emotional hurt that day. He didn't want to accidentally kill him when he turned.

"For him." MG looked at Landon "Cause I'm about to kick his ass."

"What? Why?" Landon asked confused.

MG vamp speed knocking Landon a few feet away.

"MG no!" Raf shouted at him.

Landon was human and fragile. With all of MG's powers he might have accidentally killed Landon if he fought him.

"This is all your fault. You made me come here. You rang that door bell. You showed me that paper. And you put all your crap on me." MG blamed Landon for emotional manipulating him.

Things between MG and his dad seemed to have gone sideways with the way MG was talking. He was just a kid with heightened emotions who had just been emotionally scared because of Landon. Although his anger was justified MG was one slip up away from killing Landon.

Raf had to protect Landon and MG from getting blood on his hands.

"Landon get me out of these chains." Raf told him deciding to step in before things got out of hand. What he should have done from the beginning.

"MG. I am sorry. What happened?" Landon tried to resolve the conflict without any violence.

But MG wasn't thinking logically so he punched Landon in the face dropping him.

"Yo Landon." Raf shouted.

"Okay I deserve that, now calm down." Landon stood up again revealing MG had given Landon a bloody mouth.

MG wasn't listening. He was looking at the hand that had drew blood and still had drops of it. He looked like he was trying to restrain himself but the veins in his eyes were showing his vampiric side.

"Look at me." Raf told him grabbing his attention. "MG. No." Raf pleaded with him before he did anything he couldn't stop.

Raf could see the turmoil within MG. A similar turmoil than what Raf had spent the past couple of months fighting. Choosing between his rage-filled werewolf nature and his human side. While MG was choosing between his blood lusted vampire nature and his human side.

"MG you can fight this. You have to fight this. Please." Landon begged,

"You don't understand." MG started to weep while more of Raf's bones broke "I don't have anything left to fight for. My dad was right. I'm a monster." MG regretfully chose his blood lusted nature.

"No." Was all Landon could say before MG vamp speed over to him and started feeding.

He didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon

"That's enough!" Raf shouted while the pain of all of his broken bones surged throughout his body. "MG!" He continued to shout trying to grab his attention and pull him back from over the edge.

MG didn't stop until it was all done. Then he tossed Landon drained body aside like it was a piece of trash instead of a human being. Landon's corpse land right in front of Raf.

Seeing Landon's dead body had caused him forget about everything at that moment. Because he couldn't believe. But as he saw Landon's lifeless eyes he had no choice but to face reality and accept that Landon was dead.

And it was his fault.

He had made a promise to Kaleb to look after MG. But he had made a promise to himself to always protect Landon no matter what. A promise he had failed. Because he hadn't said no when all of this had started.

His anger at himself was more intense than anything he had ever felt. He wasn't even sure it was possible to feel anger and hatred like that. But what he felt was proof that it was possible and that wasn't the limit of rage. Because he wasn't the only one to blame. MG was the one who killed Landon.

He was a monster who had given into his blood lusted nature. But he wasn't the only monster there. Raf gave in to his darker more destructive nature. MG had become the target of all his rage.

He let out a primal and beastly scream. But not because of the pain from the transformation, that was nothing.

Even restrained he was now intent on killing MG. He had broken one promise that day he was going to break another. The chains were brand new and sturdy. But he broke them apart like they were wet toilet paper. The only chain that didn't break but caused a tree to fall down as he went after MG.

MG was about to die twice.

 **AN:** Before I had never really like Landon, I didn't hate him buy I didn't like him either. But this was the episode that made me hate him. And the only reason I felt sad for his death was because Raf and Hope. Ep 13 was also my favorite episode, because of MG and Kaleb. Next chapter will be a continuation Ep 13. As always leave a review, I'm always interested in feedback for the chapters and story in general.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** Following the events of ep 13.

* * *

With one drama solved. Hope had the confidence to tackle the one she had left behind when she went on the field trip. The same drama she had been running from an entire week but now it was time for a resolution.

This time she was going about it smarter than the last time. She choose to go to her boyfriend first. It was time to tell him the truth. But she had to find him first. And when he wasn't in his room she went to the bunkers.

"Have you seen Landon?" Hope asked Dr. Saltzman as wolves kept howling "I thought he might be down here with Raf for moral support." She explained.

"Raf's not here." Dr. Saltzman replied

"Wait he's what?" She asked confused.

"The supervisor said he didn't check in. And now MG's missing too." Dr. Saltzman informed her.

"But it's a full moon." The wolves howled louder "Oh God."

A werewolf on the loose during a full moon was bad enough. But adding in an accounted vampire was even worse. Although they had a cure for werewolf bites, it was only useful if the vampire wasn't ripped to shreds.

The worst part was that Landon wouldn't have let Raf go somewhere by himself. Even though vampires hunted wolves on instinct Ladnon would still be on the menu.

So they went out searching for Landon and MG.

"I don't know why my locator spell didn't work." Hope asked rhetorically complaining as they were relegated to searching manually for the boys

"If you can't find them it means someone is cloaking them or they're…" Dr. Saltzman answered.

"Or they're dead I'm aware." She finished off with the worst case possible.

"What would poses them to leave campus? Why would they be so irrespo…" Dr. Slatzman asked.

"They wouldn't something must have happened." She said coming to their defense. Still paranoid and slightly panicking at the thought of them in danger.

"Hope." Dr. Saltzman stopped her directing her attention to a body nearby the school gate.

It was the one person she didn't think she would see that night. He was curled up naked leaning on the gate.

"Raf. Raf. Hey are you okay?" She asked confused to see him out of his wolf form.

Dr. Saltzman removed his jacket handing it to Hope who used it to cover him.

"MG, Landon." Raf replied seemingly in a daze.

"What's going on where's Landon?" She asked more concerned about Landon than anything else.

It's not that she didn't care about how disheveled and hurt Raf seemed Nor the safety of MG. But Landon was human he didn't have supernatural powers to defend himself.

"I can't remember." Raf replied concerned at his own lack of knowledge.

They had to get him inside. It was cold outside and he was naked aside from the jacket. The hypothermia wouldn't help Raf's memory. And they had to make sure he was okay before questioning him. Which is why they brought in they brought in Emma.

Everyone breathing in and out, the fire crackling. All noise he didn't want hear. He was trying to calm himself down and he couldn't do that with the beating.

* * *

He could hear four heartbeats in the room. Their sound was like drums drowning out any thought he was trying to have. The heart in his chest was the one beating the loudest, which made it unbearable when he was trying to remember something. Anything.

"Lunar Psychosis." Dr. Slatzman added more noise.

"That's a thing?" Hope asked making more sounds.

"Quit Talking. Making noise." Raf said making noise of his own.

It had become unbearable and any attempt to calm down was futile. He didn't understand why there was so much anger in him. He couldn't keep it bottled in. His animal side wanted there to be peace and quiet and he couldn't do that when there where so many beating heart.

The bottle broke and so did his restraints he made a move to pounce and end all of the other heartbeats. He scared them all making their heartbeats rise. Two stepped back in fear one extended her hand.

"Duce passatio." Emma said causing his heart to calm down.

It stopped beating loudly. He was almost able to get a thought in.

"It's a thing." Emma responded.

"What did you do to him?" Hope asked concerned

"It's okay I'm just slowing down his heart. It will calm him." Emma answered.

He partially came to his sense realizing he was in his room. But he had no idea how he got there.

"What's happening to me?" He asked realizing how fractured his mind was "I keep losing time." He explained.

"As I said Lunar Psychosis. Which means that your mind is influx." Emma calmed him down more making him lay back on the couch "Trapped between your wolf and human states. Making it harder to bridge the gap and access your memories like you normally would. It's very rare. It only happens after a premature reversion." She explained

"So something caused your body to shift back before the full moon was over. Leaving you like this." Hope continued.

"What kind of something?" He asked realizing he was in human form but could still feel the effects of the full moon on him.

"Usually trauma. Something bad happened." Hope answered.

"We don't know that." Emma replied unsure of what had happened.

"3 of them left only 1 came back. Something bad happened." Hope restated.

"Hope. Why don't you give us a minute? Go on and check on the other wolves." Emma tried to politely drive Hope away.

"I'm worried about this one." She replied.

"Hope. Please." Emma affirmed.

She didn't want Hope in the room. And Hope obliged despite not wanting to. He could hear her heart racing out in the hall way. The heavy breathing as she was starting to have a panic attack. And Raf could do nothing to help her. He couldn't even help himself at the moment.

"What's the danger of him turning wolf again? I mean this whole wing is filled with sleeping vampires." Dr. Saltzman explained.

"Don't worry I'll keep him sealed in. What his mind needs now is to be surrounded by all the things that are familiar to him. That connect him to his humanity. Not his lycanthrope." Emma explained placing a hand on his chest "Corum spiritos." She cast a spell stabilizing him further.

"Rafael we'll do everything we can to help you but we need you to tell us everything that happened. You were supposed to be here for spring break with Landon and MG. Now we can't find either one of them." Dr. Saltzman asked.

His mind was still fractured. But he was doing his hardest to put the pieces back together. The easiest part to remember was shortly after the assembly.

"Everyone was leaving. Heading home for spring break. Me and Landon were hanging out with MG because he was feeling down that he wasn't at home. We got to talking about his family which made him get bummed out. So we decided to pass by his house."

"No. Please tell me you didn't take MG home?" Dr. Saltzman asked worried.

"We didn't think it was that big of a deal Dr. Saltzman. They were just over the state line in Maryland. We were supposed to make it back before the full moon…" Raf tried to explain.

"Yeah well you didn't. And now we're here." He said sounding disappointed.

And it hurt Raf to disappoint Dr. Saltzman. He was the only adult whose opinion actually mattered to him.

"Ric. Discipline can come after everyone is healthy and safe." Emma came to his defense.

"Rafael I am sorry I am not mad at you. I'm mad at myself." Dr. Saltzman apologized blaming himself.

But Dr. Saltzman didn't deserve the blame. Raf did. He was careless to let the other boys convince him to go along with it.

"For what?" Hope asked walking through the door.

"I've got to go I've got a big mess I need to clean up. Hope stay with Emma. Keep me posted on what you learn okay. I'll have the school phone on me." Dr. Saltzman gave out orders leaving the room.

Raf was still trying to piece his mind together to try and remember what happened after Landon and MG had outvoted him on going on their trip. Even with his mind calmed down he still couldn't remember coherently. Only fragments at a time with missing pieces stopping them from being connected. The worst of it was the further ahead he got from the assembly in the morning the more pieces seemed to be missing.

* * *

Hope hated how frantic she had become. But she was worried about Landon. Which led her to breath down Emma's neck as she tried to help Raf. Hope was growing more impatient.

"What's with the needles?" She asked walking over to Emma who had just opened a bag.

"Sedatives" She answered

"It really isn't a priority." Not while Landon was potentially in danger and Raf was the only person who knew where he was.

"Safety is. Raphael told me why you couldn't track them. Penelope Park aided them in a cloaking spell before she left for break." Emma informed her.

Reliving a bit of the tension Hope was feeling because it meant he wasn't dead.

"She said it was a gift for dumping Lizzie on her birthday." Raf regretfully explained. Remembering more of what had happened.

Raf still felt a little guilt over everything that had happened between him and Lizzie.

"Great." Hope sarcastically responded "Then what happened?" She asked.

From the strain on his face she could see he was having a tough time remembering. He started to tell them about how they ended up in Maryland. But the more he spoke about their journey to MG's home the more time he took trying to tell the events. Until he started to sound more incoherent and disjointed. His heart started racing like he had flashed back to a critical memory. Then he became fully incoherent.

"Landon no!" He shouted panicking.

"It's happening again. Hand me the syringe." Emma asked Hope.

"Wait he's about to tell us what happened to Landon." Hope replied.

"And if he stays in this state any longer it will be that much harder to pull him out." Emma tried to reason with Hope.

But Hope wasn't listening. With the way Rafael was hyperventilating he was probably close to a break through.

"Landon! Run!" Raf continued to shout causing the pit in Hopes stomach to grow.

Emma decided to take it upon herself to go grab the syringes while Hope went closer to Raf to try and get more answers.

"Raf hey. It's okay, tell me who's running after Landon. Please who's chasing Landon?" She asked trying to make him focus so she could get the answers but he seemed to be trapped in his own mind and was staring blankly into the abyss "Hey. Hey." Hope repeated trying to get his attention.

But Emma jammed the syringe in his neck.

"A monster." He managed to get out before he passed out. Falling on Hopes shoulder.

They managed to get him off of the couch and onto his bed where he spent the next couple of hours sleeping.

His last words had gotten to Hope. Leaving her with more questions than answers.

"It doesn't make any sense. Triad has the urn there shouldn't be any more monsters. Certainly none that made their way to Maryland." Hope explained.

"He's obviously confused." Emma dismissed Raf's claims.

"We need to wake him up." Hope told Emma. All they were doing was speculating. They needed to get answers straight from the horse's mouth.

"Sleep is the safest thing for him now. Once he's out of his lunar cycle. We will be able to recalibrate his brain more easily." Emma replied

"But he's the only one that knows where Landon and MG are. Plus monster." Hope shot back

"I heard but as the closest thing this school has to a psychiatrist. My responsibility is to him. And to you. You and I talked a lot about triggers rooted in trauma." Emma tried psychoanalyses Hope.

But this wasn't about her not her psyche. This was about Landon and MG.

"I don't need a therapist right now Emma. I need answers." Hope tried to go back on topic.

"And you will get them when I do. Causing the least amount of harm to Rafael as possible." Emma responded adamantly.

No amount of arguing would change Emma's mind. Emma's methods where going to take time but time wasn't on their side. So Hope needed to find an alternative approach that was expedient and less harmful.

Luckily she was a Labonair which made her privy to all the crescent wolf packs secret recipes. They were all in books she kept in her room. So she needed to go get them and hit the library to find a solution to Raf's problems.

* * *

It was crunch time and she was in a rush. But the one person she absolutely didn't want to see was walking towards her with a purpose.

He was partly to blame for the fiasco that was taking place. If it wasn't for him she wouldn't have had anything to feel guilty about which led to her pushing Landon away in the process. He was the reason she had overcompensated for an entire weak draining herself to the point that she needed to take a break Landon and didn't invite him on the road trip.

Now Landon was God knows where while Duncan was headed straight for her.

She chose to ignore him and tried to side step him in a rush to get to her room. But he stopped her.

"Hope wait." He said holding her arm. He didn't have his signature scowl or look of indifference. He actually look concerned.

She wasn't in the mood to talk about what had happened between them. Not when Landon was potentially in danger.

"Not now Duncan." She said trying to shut down any chance that they were going to talk about what happened.

"Have you seen Rafael?" He responded immediately. "He wasn't at the bunkers last night." He continued expressing his concern for Raf instead of Hope.

Making Hope feel a bit embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions. Duncan was never going to address what had happened between them. For him it was probably already water under the bridge. While Hope had racked her head over those 5 minutes for over a week.

Duncan didn't care about her. But he did care about Raf.

"He's in his room dealing with lunar psychosis." She answered him.

Shocking him causing him to let go of his grip on her. His face grew more concerned.

But she wasn't about to baby him by explaining everything. Since he didn't care about her she was going to return the favor.

"I have to go now." She responded leaving him there, without much answers.

"Thanks." She heard him say sincerely as she rushed away.

He was such a dick. 99% of the time that's all he was but it was the 1% that made it even worse. Because it showed he was capable of actually acting like a real person and caring about others. Which meant he was choosing to be a dick.

But Hope wasn't going to let him distract her. She reminded herself that he was part of the reason they were in this mess. She had to save Landon first before she ever wasted another second thinking about Duncan.

* * *

After hours of research Hope had found just the thing that could help Raf's fragmented mind. But it was risky. So she wanted to use it as a last resort. But as time flew bye she was getting more desperate. She had to call Dr. Saltzman before she started taking drastic measures.

"Did you find them?" She asked hoping she didn't have to risk Raf's health.

"No not yet." Dr. Saltzman replied disappointing her "What did you learn?" He asked.

"Raf said they got attacked by a monster." She informed him.

"Well that's impossible." He replied.

"Is it?" She replied.

If anything the last couple of months had taught them it was that anything was possible. Somehow someway maybe Landon had activated an artifact in Maryland leading a monster to attack them. It was a theory she was working out but needed confirmation from Raf.

"Where and when?" He asked.

"I don't… I don't know. Emma sedated him. He's been sleeping it of for hours. But I have an idea. It's a family recipe from my mom's side. The crescent pack. Because they could control their turns at will they had access to both sides of their minds" She informed him asking for the greenlight.

"Alright do what you need to do. I've got to find MG before his father sees him." Dr. Saltzman told her as she dropped the phone. She had what she wanted to hear.

With the greenlight and the elixir in hand she headed back to Raf's room. Desperate times had called for desperate measures.

* * *

She had explained to Emma how the elixir worked while Duncan sat on the couch overlooking Raf like a silent guardian. It had turned out that he had spent the entire day there. Watching over Raf.

"Absolutely not." Emma replied flabbergasted at the elixir in Hopes hands.

"This elixir has been in my family for years. Dr. Saltzman said that I could…" She tried to argue from authority. Since Dr. Saltzman had already greenlight the elixir.

"Dr. Saltzman bless him. But he is not a medical doctor. Nor am I. And most definitely neither are you. The division between the two sides of Rafael's mind exist for a reason. To protect his sanity..." She tried to explain.

"Emma, please. Obviously something terrible happened. Landon and MG are out there somewhere." Hope tried to rally Emma's concern for the two boys.

The danger the elixir posed was not as big as the unknown danger the other two boys where probably in.

"Do you think I'm not concerned about them? Of course I am." She replied back insulted by Hope's insinuation.

"Then we need to do something." Hope tried to call to action.

"Hope I said no." She said putting her foot down. She had entertained Hope for too long. "And I'm not going to let you…" She was going play the adult card which Hope had no defense for since Emma was a witch.

Instead she gasped because Raf had blindsided everyone in the room. Waking up and jamming a syringe in Emma's neck. Hope was shocked he was even awake but even more shocked by him sedating Emma. Duncan rose from the chair surprised as well.

"I'm sorry Emma. But Hope's right." Raf knew there was no way Emma would let them try the elixir.

But there was one other person in the room they might have to get through.

"Woow slow down Raf. I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Duncan stated slowly approaching Raf to make sure he didn't spook him.

Unlike Emma they didn't have to listen to Duncan. He had no authority over either of them.

"It's to help Landon." Raf responded gently placing Emma's sedated body aside.

"The risks involved are too high. There has to be another way." Duncan argued.

"There is no other." Hope stepped in. If there was another way she would have chosen to do it.

"That's a crescent elixir." Duncan pointed at the elixir in Hope's hand "It's already dangerous and might not mix well if he's from another bloodline. It could do more harm than good." Duncan argued.

He was right. If Raf was from another of the 7 bloodlines. It could negatively affect him since it was meant for crescents. But most werewolves weren't directly descended from the 7 bloodlines. After a couple of generations not triggering the curse the werewolf gene deviated from whatever bloodline it came from. Causing the werewolf to have negligible difference between all 7 bloodlines. It was why apart from direct descendants it was hard to tell from which bloodline most werewolves came from.

It took less than 3 generations of untriggered werewolves to deviate from the direct descendant. And not knowing about Raf's parents birth history left a chance that he was a direct descendant. But direct descendants were extremely rare. There were probably less 100 in the entire world.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take for Lan." Raf stated with full conviction.

There was nothing in the world that Raf cared more about than Landon. And there were few things in the world that could stop him from protecting Landon.

"And like I said I can't let you do that. It's for your own good." Duncan stated with conviction of his own.

Raf cared about Landon but Duncan didn't. Landon meant nothing to him and for some reason Raf did. Duncan wasn't going to risk Landon for Raf. But it wasn't his choice.

"You can't stop us." Hope said interjecting.

"You wanna bet." Duncan responded.

His eyes glowed yellow as he sized them up trying to cow them into submission. But he wasn't the only wolf in the room. Hope and Raf's eyes followed suit glowing while also sizing him up.

Unfortunately even with the both of them they probably couldn't take him down easily in a fight. With Raf's fractured mind he was in no state to fight. Leaving Hope to do most of the heavy lifting. And despite her martial arts training along with her stronger than average wolf powers she wasn't sure she could easily win against Duncan.

He wasn't exactly a paper champion. There was a reason he was the only lone wolf in school besides Hope. He had earned the fear from the other wolves when he kept sending alphas and their cronies to the infirmary every time they tried to make him join the pack.

A physical fight against Duncan was unadvisable. He wouldn't go down easy. Which was why she didn't make it a physical fight. She had other powers than her lycanthrope enhancements.

"Ikaeya" She quickly cast a spell flinging him to the other side of the room before he could react. She was faster than him. "Sedate him too." Hope ordered Raf while she held Duncan on the wall with her magic.

He was struggling but it was no use. As long as it wasn't a full moon witch beats werewolf. But more especially tribrid beats lone wolf.

"Raf don't." Duncan tried to order Raf. But in his position he didn't hold that much sway so Raf continued walking over to him with a syringe full of sedative "Hope please. No." He resorted to begging. As Raf jammed the syringe in his neck.

Something Hope had never known Duncan was capable of doing. But there was a little more to it. Like he was holding back some information. Even in such a dire situation he wasn't very forthcoming. But they had forced his hand.

"He's the Paxon." He managed to get out before passing out. And she let go of her magic letting him drop into Raf's arms.

His last words were like a punch to the gut for Hope. She was willing to toss the dice and hope that Rafael wasn't 1 of the 100 direct descendants of the other 6 bloodlines. And to add insult to injury he was a Paxon.

"Did you know?" Hope asked.

"Know what?" He asked dragging Duncan's limp body.

"That you're a paxon."

For months she had wondered about the Paxon. Duncan had seemingly kept his word when he said it wouldn't be a danger to her. It was right under her nose all of this time. In her defense Raf wasn't a warmongering berserker hell bent on destruction.

She knew it wasn't fair to label an entire pack because of the radical elements within it. Coming from a long line of the villains in most people's stories she spent most of her life fighting her family's reputation. She felt especially sympathetic to Raf's plight because now he too had to fight a dark legacy. One nearly as dark as hers.

"No. I didn't." He answered placing Duncan's body on the bed. "But it doesn't matter. Do what you gotta do." He gave her the greenlight. Even knowing how much more it was dangerous for him than before.

Hope was hesitant to give Raf the elixir. But he was choosing to risk it all for a chance at saving Landon from a monster. She wasn't going to take that away from him. She accepted risking his safety to help Landon's.

* * *

She set him down on the couch and started prepping him. She had to take extra procedures to make mitigate the dangers of a Paxon taking the elixir.

"Here just drink it." She handed him the refined elixir.

He took it and started drinking a bit of it. It smelled worse than it tasted and it didn't exactly taste like hot chocolate. But Raf was able to hold it down.

"Okay. You said you saw a monster." She reminded him.

"I did?" He questioned.

"Yeah."

"I don't… I don't remember that." He strained himself trying to remember.

It seemed it would take a little bit longer for the elixir to take full effect.

"Okay tell me what you do remember." She asked trying to get the ball rolling.

"After getting turned down at MG's house… We decided to head back… MG was even more bummed out than before… Landon thought that MG getting answers from his dad would help get him some kind of closure… So he managed to convince MG to confront his dad on using his dead son as a platform to run for mayor… And since it was on the way home, there was no way I could convince them otherwise… When we got to the church MG confronted his dad. But he was acting weird. Talking about how it was a miracle that his son was alive. That it was a gift from God." He explained.

"Wait… wait, wait. So you're saying MG's dad didn't know he was a vampire?" She asked.

"I'm saying MG's dad thought that he was dead." Raf clarified. "They got to talking…We didn't want to leave MG behind but it was getting late. And we knew that I had to get back before I turned and…"He stopped mid-sentence

"What?" She asked prompting him.

"We didn't make it back on time Hope." He regretfully answered "We ended up having to improvise. Chaining me up in the middle of the woods before I turned… Then we started hearing sounds… Something moving fast… Like supernatural fast… We… We… Weren't sure what it was." He tried to explain, but was straining himself even more the closer he got to explaining what happened. "It was… It was… Headed straight for us…" He took more time trying to explain "I started turning… I told him… to grab MG and run… I didn't know what it was… So I kept telling him to run… he wasn't listening." Raf went on.

His heartbeat was rising fast. He was spiking as he remembered more.

"I said run!" Raf shouted like he was stuck in trance and reliving the experience.

"Hey Raf, Raf. Hey, hey" She tried to grab his attention and bringing him out of his trance "here, here drink this" She gave him more of the elixir to help him remember more clearly.

He drank it still grunting .

"Hey what did you see? What did you see?" She repeated.

"I don't know." He answered.

"What were you running from?" She asked.

"I don't know." He repeated.

"Raf whatever you saw is what ever made you like this. Did the monster hurt Landon?"

"I don't know." He repeated. Seemingly the only thing he could say.

"Is Landon okay Raf?" She shouted at him.

She hated to push him. But they had already come this far. They had already risked everything and had gotten nothing back. She had to make sure that Raf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. And she had to make sure that Landon was okay.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." He kept saying as he broke down.

Pushing him further wouldn't bear any fruits. So she chose to calm down and take another approach.

"Okay do you remember where the woods where?"

If they could find the woods they could maybe find clues about what had happened. Trying to remember the woods was far less stressful for him than when he tried to remember what happened.

"I think so." He responded a bit unsure. Which relived Hope nonetheless "Yeah I remember." He said with more confidence.

"Okay. Okay." Hope started formulating her plan "I'm going to get one of the twins to siphon you out of here and were going to go find him."

With a plan in place she didn't feel as helpless as she did before. They had avoided seriously damaging Raf as well as finding another link to Landon and MG. Her spirits were a lot higher as she forced herself to be optimistic. Landon was okay, she had no other choice but to believe.

History was not repeating itself. She would not have been the cause of another of her loved ones dying. She had already inadvertently caused the death of her mother because she wanted her father back. Who would later sacrificed himself along with her uncle Elijah to save her all because she thought she could contain the Hollow.

Now Landon was in danger because she didn't take him on the road trip. All because she felt guilty about the kiss with Duncan and wanted a break from Landon. If she had taken him on the trip. He wouldn't have been there to convince Raf and MG to go on a road trip of their own. The boys never would have left campus ending up in the woods when Raf was turning and getting attacked by a monster.

She wasn't going to let him die because of her guilt. She was going to save him.

* * *

There were a lot of things that pissed Duncan off. Obnoxious people, people that couldn't stay quiet for very long, a referees making a bad call during a game and people that literally said 'lol' ironically and unironically. But in the top 10 of that very long misanthropic list was people who didn't head his warning, just after people that drugged.

He wasn't sure how long he had been out but the moment he woke up he sprang into action, despite still being drowsy.

He grabbed Raf by the shirt pressing him against the wall. There were only three heartbeats in the room meaning that Hope wasn't there. Which meant he didn't have to deal with his biggest threat yet. So he dealt with his dumbest threat.

Before he had passed out he had warned them about how dangerous it would've been. And judging by the look in Raf's eyes his warning had landed on deaf ears.

"It's too late. We already did it." Raf confirmed still pinned to the wall.

He didn't make a move to fight off Duncan. He had already accomplished his goal and it wasn't like he could fight Duncan of in his state. Even if Duncan wasn't fully there and a bit drowsy.

"Dammit." Duncan just let him go dropping him to the floor.

"How are you up so early? It's only been a few hours." Raf asked standing up.

"It's not the first time I've been drugged. You start to build a tolerance." Duncan explained.

Every time he got too rowdy either Jeremy or Dr. Saltzman would sedate him until he calmed down.

"What were you thinking?" Duncan chastised Raf.

"Landon was in danger and He's my brother." Raf explained.

His loyalty to his foster brother was the strongest bond he had because blood was thicker than water. A common phrase misinterpreted by most. It wasn't about prioritizing those you were born to above all else. It was about prioritizing those suffered with and for you.

Duncan reluctantly accepted there was nothing he could do since Raf had already ingested the elixir and he was relatively fine after doing so. He started to inform him on the plan. And how they were going to go to woods just outside of Mystic Falls to look for them.

He didn't care about Landon or finding him. And despite the growing list of annoyances he didn't have ill will against the guy just a general sense of apathy he had for almost everyone at the school. But he did care about Raf. Since Hope didn't have a driver's license and Raf was in no condition to drive. Duncan decided to take them after grabbing an axe just in case they had to fight of a monster.

* * *

They managed to find the woods and locate Dr. Saltzman's truck before the got attacked by any monster. Hope and Raf rushed of when they could hear the voice of Dr. Satlzman, Kaleb and MG. Duncan was not far behind making sure they didn't get ambushed.

"Hey Dr. Saltzman." Hope called out as soon as they got close to him.

"Oh Hope thank God you made it." Dr. Saltzman expressed relief.

"Wait what's going on?" Hope asked as she saw Kaleb cradle an injured MG on the ground.

"MG has a werewolf bite. He doesn't have that much time." Dr. Saltzman explained stoking Duncan's fears.

"Oh my God." Hope said concerned.

"I bit you." Raf confirmed Duncan's fears.

Raf was the monster he was talking about. He must have disassociated himself from his wolf form. Keeping just a bit of his human conscience to see what he was doing as some kind of outer body experience. Because he wasn't in control of himself his wolf side was.

An apex predator that hunted vampires on extinct. So he must have bit MG when he was a wolf. But vampires weren't the only thing werewolves preyed on. With Landon missing Duncan feared for the worst. Now he was actually concerned about Landon's safety because it would break Raf if he killed his best friend.

"This is all my fault. Raf I'm so sorry." MG apologized delirious from the wolf bite. It had been nearly a day since Raf bit him and being a newbie vampire MG didn't have that much longer to live.

"Sorry. What are you sorry for?" Kaleb asked angry standing up "He's the one that should be sorry." Kaleb focused his anger at Raf "He's the fool that bit you." He spit out going after Raf.

Duncan intervened stepping in between Kaleb and Raf.

It wasn't Raf's fault he had bit MG. Raf was a newbie Paxon with less than 4 turns under his belt. He couldn't control himself in wolf form. And Duncan wasn't going to let him be persecuted for what he couldn't control.

"Fall back." His eyes glowed yellow warning Kaleb not to go after Raf.

"It's not a full moon bruh! Ain't nobody scared of you!" Kaleb's anger was visceral.

As was Duncan's. And Kaleb was right it wasn't a full moon, but he didn't need it to kill a baby vamp. With tensions so high all it would take was one wrong move and either one of them would end up dead. Luckily Dr. Saltzman stepped in trying to make sure things didn't escalate.

"No, no, no, no." Raf kept repeating.

"Hey, hey. What's going on? What's going on? What?" Hope kept asking worried about him

"I remember now. The elixir. His face. Being back here. I remember who the monster was." Raf stated with cold fury overlooking MG.

Duncan's theory had been proved wrong. Raf wasn't responsible for Landon's death. But Landon was dead nonetheless.

Hope started to hyperventilate. She collapsed as she had a panic attack.

Duncan knew how painful it was for her. Death seemed to follow her around consuming everyone around her. Her father and uncle who had lived a 1000 years couldn't survive 15 years of her. Neither could her mother. And now Landon was added to her list of lost loved ones after less than 2 months with her.

It broke his heart to see her in pain. Because he too was no stranger to death. He was a focal point of power although on a lesser level than Hope. He was one of three living direct descendants of The Paxons she was a first born Mikealson witch with Crescent and New East Atlantic blood in her.

But she was still a girl on the brink of tears. Only 17 years old having already lost so much. Duncan didn't know what he could do to help her. So he did the only thing he could. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder waiting for her to calm down.

"I did it. It was me. I'm the monster." MG confessed.

"When you finished your turn, you got loose and you bit MG. Watching Landon die was too traumatic, too human so you reverted back to scramble your memory." Dr Saltzman explained.

"I don't want to remember any of this." He was trying to bottle up his anger and control it. He started his breathing exercises to calm himself down as he walked away.

"Raf where are you going?" Dr. Saltzman asked.

"Away from MG before I finish the job." He explained.

"Hey!" Kalbe called out stopping Raf in his tracks.

Kaleb was probably trying to apologies or defend MG but he didn't know what to say. Raf started walk back

"Landon's body is out there, I'm going to go find it." He stated walking away.

Duncan couldn't accompany him while he was still trying to comfort Hope. And he agreed with Raf needing sometime alone to cool off. Duncan would leave him alone for a few minutes.

"I was so mad. I wanted to hurt Landon. I didn't want his blood. I needed it. I needed all of it. Because I'm the monster… I'm the… Demons… So many demons." MG explained delirious.

"Okay alright." Dr. Saltzman tried to comfort MG.

"Dr. S." Kaleb whispered nodding at Hope. Asking a question he couldn't ask.

"I just… Give her a minute." Dr. Saltzman replied.

"What if she won't?" Kaleb asked concerned for his friend's future.

Everyone had their loyalties. Duncan was loyal to Raf, Raf was loyal to Landon and Kaleb was loyal to MG. Despite what MG had done. Duncan wasn't going to allow Raf to be persecuted for something he couldn't control. Something that was in his nature. To condemn MG because of his nature would make Duncan a hypocrite.

And he was. If he had the power to save MG he wouldn't. They were all monsters. Werewolf and vampire alike. But most wolves didn't depend on the blood of innocents to survive. And unlike wolves who were beholden to the full moon vampires were always a threat.

So Duncan had no sympathy for MG even as he neared deaths door. He had a fervent distaste for beings that didn't appreciate the finality of death. And even though he tolerated them he wouldn't bat an eye when they finally met their maker.

Luckily for MG it wasn't his choice. It was hers.

"She will. She will." Dr. Saltzman affirmed to Kaleb.

It was one of the stark differences between him and Hope. Deep down on the inside as well as on the surface she was good person and he wasn't. He wouldn't put his anger aside and forgive someone who had killed a loved one or even try to save them. It was why he had condemned himself to suffering until he had achieved absolution or annihilation.

Hope was a far better person than he was because she would put her anger aside. And she would choose to do the right thing by saving MG.

"Hand me your axe." She said rising from the ground after composing herself. Streaks of tears still on her face.

He complied. She walked over to MG slicing her hand with the blade of the axe. She dropped down and placed her bleeding hand on MG's mouth. Feeding him her blood curing him of the werewolf bite.

After saving MG she was still a bit weak in the knees from the panic attack. So he led her over to Raf. Judging by weeping sounds he heard in the distance had found Landon's body.

As they walked over and Hope saw Landon's dead body being cradled by Raf. She got some strength back in her legs and rushed over to Landon.

She started weeping again following in Raf's footsteps as both cried over the dead body of their loved one. Landon was stuck in between 2 focal points of power. His life span was never going to be that long. Nature had a way of punishing people like them. Usually by taking their loved ones long before it was their time to go.

Duncan had lost Sean. While Hope and Raf had lost Landon. They were all cursed because of their bloodlines and people like Landon were collateral damage.

He watched on as the two mourned. It was easy for him to sympathize with their predicament. Because he two had experienced it before. And he knew no amount of words could ever heal their pain. Only time would heal their wounds but not his.

"Goddammit." Dr. Saltzman walked over to see Landon's dead body.

Kaleb and MG then walked over. MG feeling guilty over what he had done and couldn't look anyone in the eyes. Instead he looked at the floor in shame.

The gears in Raf's head started turning. But he wasn't thinking of much. With cold fury and dedication all he wanted to do was make sure MG shared Landon's fate despite the consequences.

A situation Duncan was overly familiar with. He had once let his anger and need for vengeance consume him once and he was still dealing with the consequences. Exiled while a war was being fought in his home.

Luckily for Raf there was a group of people capable of stopping him from making a mistake.

He got up from the ground with a single goal in mind.

"Raf! Raf!" Hope called out to him "Stop." She told him grabbing his arm but he just shook it off.

Kaleb got in front of MG reluctantly ready to defend him. And Duncan got in Raf's way blocking him from reaching his target.

"Landon wouldn't want this." Hope forced him to face her "He wanted us to be better give him that respect." Hope reasoned with Raf. And he kept nodding in agreement as he fell into her embrace "It's okay." She comforted him.

Both sharing in their misery while the rest of them empathized with. A moment of silence occurred but it was short lived.

"Uh, am I still delusional or do y'all see this?" MG asked directing their attention to Landon.

His body was starting to form smoke.

"Put him out Hope." Raf told her concerned at the unprompted smoke.

"Aduma dorf." Hoe cast a spell but it was ineffective "It's not working… I… ah. What's going on?" She asked.

Duncan was trying to focus his hearing and readying his axe. There must have been another person or monster causing the smoke.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like this." Dr. Saltzman said as the smoke combusted into flames and started burning Landon's body.

Everyone was amazed at the fire while Duncan was preparing for a fight. But the fire died down leaving the ashes of Landon's body.

"Damn." Kaleb chimed in.

Hope made a move to go inspect Landon's body but they stopped her.

"No, not yet. I don't think it's over." Dr. Saltzman said.

"What's not over?" Hope asked.

"We've been wondering if he was supernatural. We have our answer." He answered.

Duncan had always thought that Landon Kirby was a chickenshit bastard. But it seemed he was a different kind of bird. The kind that didn't appreciate the finality of death.

Landon started to rise from his own ashes.

"What's going on?" Landon asked unaware of his disrespect for death.

"You ever heard the legend of the phoenix."

* * *

 **AN:** As always thank you for taking the time to read this. And I would also appreciated it if you were to leave a review. I'm always interested to now what you guys like, what works and what doesn't.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** Following the events of ep 14. Through the P.O.V of Duncan and Hope

* * *

She had been glad when Fiona chose to spend the night at Duncan's room. It gave Hope and Landon the opportunity to have the room to their selves. And that was Hope needed at the moment. To be close to Landon.

She felt guilty for not taking him on the trip. And because of her decision he died for it. Even though she would later find out he was a phoenix. His death hit too close to home.

Her mind started afflicting her and punishing her for almost getting him killed. Holding him close to make sure he was truly alive was the only way to alleviate her suffering. But even that was not enough. She kept remembering his dead body while her mind screamed 'It is all your fault'.

"Hope wake up, Hope wake up." He shook her trying to wake her from her sleep.

All she felt was an attack and she responded the best way she could. She cast a spell pushing away the assailant away from her. She woke up to realize it was her boyfriend and he was flying in the air until he crashed on her painting.

"Oh my god. Landon are you okay?" She asked concerned.

"Oh I was recently dead so I think I'll manage." He humorously replied.

"What happened?" She asked unaware of what had happened.

"You were having a nightmare. And then you screamed and some magical wave thing hit me. And now I have art supplies on my shirt." He explained.

She was surprised she was the cause of their early morning complication. She still in a daze from everything that had happened the previous day. And the emotional roller-coaster she had experienced. There might have been some residual side effects. But she was determined to move past them.

* * *

All year he had done his best to avoid being called in to Dr. Saltzman's office for their annual disciplinary meeting. This time however it wasn't because of what he did but what he didn't do.

"When I first started this school. One of the bedrocks of our education was teaching the kids at this school discipline, compassion and ethics. But once in a while there are students that try my patience and tolerance to its limits. And make me think that there is no hope for them to the point that the best outcome of their tenure is that I have mitigated the danger they pose to society. You are one of those students and by far the worst offender. Usually when I give one of these speeches a student will interrupt me and try to explain themselves. But not you. Because you are so convinced you are right that you see no need to justify yourself to anyone. But for today I just want you to explain to me why. Why you felt the need to keep the knowledge that another Paxon was roaming around to yourself?" Dr. Saltzman ordered Duncan.

"Plausible deniability and self-preservation." He replied.

"Go on." Dr. Saltzman prompted.

"The school was built on a foundation of trust that you have fostered. But in recent times the school's reputation has taken several hits due to the constant monster attacks and revelation that there was a Mikaelson in attendance. Were it to be revealed that you were knowingly harboring a Paxon the backlash would nearly bankrupt the school's credibility. But harboring 2 Paxons would erode every bit of trust and credibility that the school has built. I thought it best not to tell you and afford you some plausible deniability."

"Well I don't appreciate being kept out of the loop as to what's happening in my school. And Rafael why keep him out of the loop?" He asked

"He wasn't interested in finding out about his biological family. And I thought it was best not to burden him with his father's sins because he's not just any Paxon. He's Branden's son." He informed Dr. Saltzman.

"Oh great." Dr. Saltzman replied sarcastically "At the very least I can inform Emma on his family's history. Is there anything else you forgot to mention?"

"No. Now you know everything I know." Even with the cat was out of the bag he decided not to go the route of full transparency.

"How about how you even found out about him?"

"He beat Jed for the alpha position. Something a newbie wolf with no training does. Unless they are a direct descendant of one of the 7 packs. Added with his extraordinary strength, slow healing and tremendous anger issues. I thought he might be a direct decedent of the Paxon Clan." Duncan explained his deductions leaving out using Hope for conformation. Only one of them needed to get into trouble.

Dr. Saltzman's brow furrowed and he sighed as he came to a realization.

"I can't believe I missed the signs."

"To be fair you were preoccupied with the constant monster attacks." He tried to offer some comfort.

"Doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't more vigilant and you weren't more forthcoming. Duncan I would really appreciate the next time you make a major discovery that you inform me. And I would also appreciate this being our final disciplinary meeting."

"I'll try my best." He offered not making a binding promise.

"You're dismissed." Dr. Saltzman said giving up on him. Ending their disciplinary meeting.

He felt bad for the man with all the stress he was dealing with. The past several days had been taxing for Dr. Saltzman, from one student killing another, then another student attempting to murder the first to avenge the second and the second coming back to life in a burst of flames. Added with the stress of having two Paxons in the school.

One Paxon was alarming but two were cataclysm waiting to happen.

* * *

She was going through the motions of her Kali training with Dr. Saltzman. He wasn't a man in his prime and was for the most part human. Which is why Hope was holding back her powers. She was instead using her skill to keep up with him. Even then there wasn't much she could do without hurting him.

She knew he was refining her skills to supplement her powers but she wanted to cut loose. No need for technique just a raw release.

"So what's wrong with you?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She responded. He was fishing for something but she wasn't going to give him anything to go off on.

"Landon told me about your little incident." He admitted irking her.

"Isn't boyfriend confidentiality a thing? It should be." She said as she went back on the attack.

"He's just worried about you. That's all." He explained taking a break from their training

"He doesn't need to be." She replied attacking again. She wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"You sure? It seems like you're manifesting a little stress and anxiety. My guess is your still dealing with the trauma of seeing Landon dead." He said his psychobabble.

"I've been through worse." She explained.

His death had hit her hard, but at least he came back. There was a chance for reconciliation between the two.

"I mean with your family history…"

She wished he wouldn't have said that. She was trying not to think about it but he brought it up. It was hard to move on when you were constantly being reminded. And that made her angry.

"I said I'm fine." She released her anger outwards, and with a wave of magical energy sent Dr. Saltzman flying back.

It was the second time that day she had unintentionally hurt someone. With so many emotions running rampant with in her it was becoming near impossible to bottle them all up.

"Okay. I could stand to blow of some steam. I'm gonna go check the woods to go see if I could wolf out."

It was her go to form of release when she was feeling too restless to handle. She needed to let it all out and there was no better way than to let out her inner wolf.

* * *

"I have some news. Many of you like me have forgotten we are hosting this year's miss Mystic Falls pageant." Dr. Saltzman announced to a displeased student body "Trust me I know. But the rotation is set in stone. So let's take the opportunity to maintain our image as a normal school for the rich and awful. As usual anything remotely magical, enchanted, vampire, wolf or witch related. Must be kept away tucked and hidden under lock and key. Now with your chore assignments." He handed it over to Lizzie

"Okay we will split into teams." Lizzie Saltzman ecstatically announced.

She was probably the only person at the school that actually cared about the pageant. And like most school functions he wouldn't be expected to attend. It was one of the benefits of being a complete outcast.

He wasn't held to the same standards as the rest of the student population. Nor was he obligated to show a false sense of school spirit. Instead he was just the guy on the outside of it all.

"We should attend." Fi announced.

"What?" He questioned. She couldn't be serious.

"We should attend the pageant." She restated.

"But we don't have to." He replied as his only argument.

"Come on it'll be fun." She said causing him to scoff "It would be like an actual date instead of spending all of our time in your room." She argued.

He had no rebuttal for her. Not when he still hadn't told her the truth and remained in a relationship with her. He may not have been obligated to the school to attend but as long he kept his secrets from Fi it was his obligation to play the part of boyfriend. So he reluctantly agreed.

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed. But it made her happy because she smiled and kissed him on his cheek.

It was those small gestures she made that gave him death by a thousand cuts every time he postponed doing the right thing. It was a guilt he was starting to manage. Which made him all the more worse as a person.

* * *

The miss mystic falls pageant was not a welcomed distraction. It cut Hope off her preferred method of letting lose. Which meant she had to do her best to bottle it all in.

Keeping herself busy with the chores wasn't as effective as wolfing out but it was the best she could do at the moment.

"Hey Hope. You have any idea where these guys go?" Landon walked over holding rats.

"Yeah anywhere but with the birds. The ravens and the finches are fine. But the owls are crazy." She directed him while she went about taking inventory.

"So I've been thinking about why you've been acting so weird." He said putting down the rats.

"Suddenly everyone's got a psychology degree around here." She responded sarcastically.

She wasn't acting as weird as everyone thought she was. Sure she was a bit shaken but it didn't warrant that much concern from everyone.

"No. I just think you have cold feet." He said walking over her.

"About what?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Us." He said causing her heart to skip a beat and she started growing weary "You know where good. Finally in a solid relationship based on honesty and openness. And I'm indestructible. You're relatively indestructible. We finally have a long clear road ahead of us with no obstacles." He posited.

But he was wrong. They couldn't have a relationship based on honesty and openness. Not when she kept secrets from him. There were several obstacles that muddied the road they were on. The obstacle that stood out the most in her mind was another person. A person she had to tell Landon the truth about if there was ever any future for them.

As if on cue someone walked in. Someone who had once been an obstacle, but she had overcome him. He wasn't the issue at hand but she didn't want his presence to stir up old feelings. There was only so much she could handle by bottling it all up.

"Who is that?" Landon asked once he notice her line of sight.

"Uhm. That is Roman. My ex-boyfriend." She explained.

"Oh."

Seeing Roman up close and personal made her realize how much she had grown. She still cared about him but there were no lingering feelings. Which made her happy that she only had to deal with one case of resurfacing feelings.

"Dr. Saltzman's been a little overwhelmed. So I've been doing a little recruiting recon for him lately. But he asked me to come in today and lend a hand." He explained. His eyebrows motioned to Landon who was behind them allowing the exes to catch up.

"Oh ah this is Landon." She explained.

"Her boyfriend. And a phoenix by the way. Which is so cool." He stated boldly making the entire conversation awkward.

Neither Hope nor Roman knew exactly how to react in that moment.

"I better go find Dr. Saltzman." Roman made an excuse to leave.

"That was a little alpha male of you." She said reprimanding him. She was glad he was showing a bit more confidence but she didn't appreciate his territorial claim.

"Huh. Is that the 90 year old ex you may have mentioned murdered your mom?" He asked for conformation.

Which was unnecessary because he was the only ex she had.

"It is. Though I don't hold him responsible for what happened anymore." She explained. Forgiving people was a part of moving on.

"I'm going to hide more rats." Landon said making his own exit.

She understood that he was a little insecure with her ex being back. But he wasn't the one he should worry about. And she couldn't deal with all of that in one day while bottling up her emotions. She needed a new method of release. Something that could distract her more than just keeping inventory.

She needed a change in works assignments

* * *

"I'm going to need another task. Something more strenuous if you have it." She asked Lizzie anxiously.

"Does this have anything to do with the return of Roman Sienna? Because I can think of something real strenuous." Lizzie suggested with her blatant innuendo.

"It's not about Roman. I just need a release. With all of these humans coming to campus I can't wolf out." She explained.

"Okay I'll make you a list." Lizzie accepted taking note of the judges that walked in. "The judges are here excuse me." She made her exit over to the judges.

After a short conversation with the judges. Lizzie dragged Hope along with Josie and Penelope to an empty room. To make an important announcement.

"I am withdrawing from miss Mystic Falls. Effective immediately." She announced dramatically.

"I thought you had something important to tell us." Hope responded disappointed at Lizzie's big announcement.

"Come for the underwhelming announcement. Stay for the epic melt down." Penelope gleefully added.

"Okay wait. Why are you quitting?" Josie asked concerned.

"A personal issue with one of the judges. A direct response of that bitch Dana's sabotage." Lizzie callously answered.

"She's dead Lizzie." Hope reprimanded abrasive statement.

"Correction. That dead bitch Dana's sabotage. Costing me the crown from beyond the grave. The head Judge is her mother. Town pharmacist. There is always next year for me. But that does not mean that we here at the Salvatore school shouldn't bring home the title. And stick it to those townies. So I have studied all of the stats and advanced metrics and I have chosen a replacement." Through her longwinded speech she would have expected Lizzie to choose Josie. But she didn't "Hope Mikaelson." Lizzie stated.

Surprising Hope and probably everyone in the room. Hope would've thought that Lizzie chose Josie, but since she didn't object she assumed it was because Josie was too shy.

* * *

"I'm going to regret this aren't I?" Hope asked as Lizzie started prepping her for the pageant. Everything seemed worse once she dropped a binder on the table for miss Mystic Falls.

"Regret it? You are the perfect candidate. You are pageant pretty, reasonably well spoken and not to mention you have the added bonus of being an orphan. Classic charity case." Lizzie stated callously.

Hope had always been used to Lizzie's vitriolic nature and had hoped that it would change once they became friends. But now it seemed like a pipe dream. And she didn't appreciate exploiting her tragic life to win some competition.

"Plus you wanted strenuous. This is the fiercest competition in the land." Lizzie boasted.

"Okay." Hope replied in defeat. She then picked up the binder that Lizzie dropped.

"My mother's research. She used it to prepare for miss Mystic Falls the year that she one. It's effective but her methods… Quaint. At best." She walked away to grab a box and dropping it on the table before revealing even more binders "This is my research. I have studied every answer given, why every winner has won and why every loser has lost. Now one from the Salvatore school has come close. Until today." Lizzie handed Hope even more notes

* * *

In her opinion it was all overkill. She wasn't saying that winning the pageant wasn't going to be difficult. But Lizzie had taken the preparation too far. They spent most of the morning going over the basics of the competition.

Even rehearsal was starting to seem daunting. It was like an arena and she was a gladiator battling lesser versions of Lizzie because it seemed those were the only types of girls that were interested in entering the pageant. They were all basically archetypes of the mean girl throwing around snide back handed remarks. Some even had less tact and were blunt with their vitriol of the other contestants. All while keeping smiles for the judges.

The other contestants weren't the only problem she had during rehearsal. It seemed that something had been bugging Landon the entire time. He didn't say anything but she could tell it was eating him.

"I still can't believe you were so nice to him." He finally brought it up "After everything you told me he did to your family, you can act like nothing happened."

"It's complicated. He spent half of his life dedicated and then he was brain washed by his mother. Who's a literal Nazi. And he spent the last two years doing really good work for the school." She came to his defense

"Your mother is still dead. How does any of that exonerate him?"

"It doesn't. But it's in the past. Leave it." She told him to drop it.

"I've suffered through how much torture because I stole a knife? And this guy has a hand in the death of your mother." She hated that he brought her up.

If she couldn't forgive Roman how could she forgive herself since it was ultimately her that caused everything? Just like it was ultimately her that caused Landon's death.

"Landon. Stop." She said putting her foot down. There was only so much she could take and Landon was just pushing her to the brink. She could barely keep her emotions in check. It was like the bottle was about to break over.

"Come with me." Lizzie came in "You stay here do nothing." She ordered Landon.

* * *

She dragged Hope away from the entire situation taking her to the old mill.

"Lizzie where are we going?" She asked when they passed the old mill.

"You're a ticking time bomb. I'm going to show you to take care of it before you hurt someone or worse cost us the pageant." Lizzie explained.

"I'm fine. I just needed some air." She had been overwhelmed but now she was back in control.

"You are far from fine. You are one small moment away from a meltdown. Trust me I know the signs. You know that feeling inside. Like a balloon constantly filling up. All ways on the verge of popping."

"Maybe." Hope reluctantly agreed.

"Well let it pop. Scream as loud as you can." She directed Hope.

Hope wasn't sure exactly how screaming would help and looked at Lizzie skeptically. But after a small nudge she decided to give it a try.

She took in a deep breath and let it all loose with a wail. As she cut loose a wave of magical energy expelled itself from her body blowing the wind and pushing away all of the leaves.

The scream wasn't as effective as wolfing out but it did empty a lot of the contents in her bottle. She felt much better being more capable of regulating her emotions

* * *

"You know I actually feel a lot better. I think I need to go back up to my room. Call it a day." She explained as they walked back.

"No you are not dropping out on me. If I'm right. Which I am. Our win probability is still at 87% even after that abysmal rehearsal. So buckle up. We are in this till the bitter end." Lizzie called to arms.

But Hope was preoccupied with Landon coming into view and headed straight towards them.

"In a situation like this which one of us is supposed to apologies?" Hope asked. Despite being 2 years older than Lizzie she had relatively no experience with guys. Her last relationship ended after less than 2 weeks.

"When it comes to jealousy always the guy." Lizzie explained.

"Hey." He said walking over

"Hey." She replied meeting him halfway.

"I'm so sorry. I was totally insensitive and I just… I just… Where did this statue come from?" He oddly asked interrupting his own apology.

"Ah I don't know someone probably moved it here when they were cleaning. It looks like one of the statues from the basement." She explained wanting to get back to the apology.

"Call me crazy but doesn't this look like MG's mom." He said causing her to inspect it further.

"I think it is MG's mom." Hope said in conformation.

She was shocked to find out she had been turned to stone and recently since she was wearing the school's visitors pass.

* * *

They had informed Dr. Saltzman who also brought along MG for further verification.

"Who would do this to my mom?" MG asked.

"Not just who would, who could?" Hope asked the more important question.

"Could be a bad spell translation, a potion mishap?" Dr. Saltzman threw out some theories

"Or a monster?" Hope posited the most obvious theory.

"There's no reason a monster would be here." Dr. Saltzman shot down her theory. They didn't have an artifact in their possession.

"Unless this sentient jar of artisanal mayonnaise activated a new artifact. What did you touch?" Lizzie asked.

"Everything. We cleaned the school from top to bottom remember." Landon explained. "But if we're going to throw out wild theories. Here's one, what if the person who did this showed up today. Out of nowhere, acting all buddy buddy manipulating romantic feelings to get someone's guard down." His theory had no merit besides being based in insecurity.

"Do you seriously suspect Roman?" She called him out on it.

"Yeah we all should the timing is too convenient." He said in defense.

"I thought you were sorry for acting jealous." Hope reprimanded him.

"I was sorry. But now I'm vindicated." He replied

"All right. Lizzie, Hope you keep an eye on the contestants. MG were going to search the campus. Landon…" Dr. Saltzman tried to give out orders.

"I'm going to go ask Roman some questions." Landon stated walking off on his irrational mission.

"Yeah super helpful. Ask a vampire how he turned a woman to stone." Hope shouted as he walked away.

"All right everyone stay alert. And be careful out there!" He shouted also warning Hope's idiot boyfriend.

They spilt of into multiple directions. Landon off to confront Roman for no good reason. Dr. Saltzman and MG of to find clues. While Hope and Lizzie went off to protect the contestants. And Lizzie suggested the best way to keep an eye on contestants was to keep prepping for the pageant.

* * *

"Even though I still struggle daily with a profound sense of… Loss" She read out from the note Lizzie had prepped for her. "Uhm Lizzie why are all the answers that you've prepared for me about death and grief?" She asked

"The Q and A portion of miss Mystic Falls isn't just about your A and your Qs. You and Dana's mom have a lot in common. She lost Dana, You lost… Your mom, your dad, Landon. Almost."

"I'm not struggling. I've dealt with it. Moved on." If she said it enough times she'd believe it herself. She would fake it till she made it and she didn't appreciate everyone constantly bringing it up.

Lizzie seemingly accepted her statement. She instead choose to reveal the dress that Hope was going to wear for the Pageant.

"This was my mother's. We can alter it to fit you." She said

"It's gorgeous." Hope responded.

The dress was beautiful and elegant. Far more regal than anything the other contestants would be wearing. It was a dress fit for a princess. It truly was the dress that every girl wanted to wear. Her victory was all but assured.

* * *

Night had come and the pageant was hours away from being done. He didn't like the school on average days but he hated it even more when there where functions. What made it all the more worse this time around was that Fi was adamant on showing some school spirit.

Instead of hiding out at the barn until the entire circus was done he had spent the day helping Fiona out with the chores. She didn't have his immunity and was actually expected to help out and she dragged him along the entire day.

The only reason he was free from her now was because she had to go help Hope prepare for the miss Mystic Falls pageant. He knew why he was attending the pageant but he didn't know why she was and more importantly why she was competing. It wasn't Hope's style.

But Duncan focused more on his own misery than hers. He was less concerned about how she had been bamboozled into competing and more concerned about how he was going to get through the entire thing.

Fiona wouldn't approve if he showed up hammered so he avoided the hard stuff and had to look for an alternative. One presented itself in the form of Landon Kirby and a bottle of champagne.

He found him drinking alone sitting on a fountain in the quad. He snatched the bottle of champagne out of his hand and took a swig.

Duncan's presence had concerned Landon. The guy was slightly afraid of Duncan. And he didn't blame him. Every time the two encountered each other it was when Duncan was in one of his moods.

"Relax. I'm just here for the booze." Duncan calmed him down by passing the bottle of champagne back to him.

A still relatively nervous Landon decided to take a swig of the champagne again. This time he was stopped by Penelope Park.

"Seriously." He said in protest.

"Mhm it's not bad." She replied taking a swig of the bottle. And handing it back to Landon

"I don't think you've ever spoken to me before?" He asked Penelope.

"You never had free booze before." She replied

"Right. Makes sense."

"Duncan this is some rather interesting company you keep." She made a remark towards him.

"Booze." He responded.

"Of course. So what sorrows are we drowning?" She asked.

Duncan didn't respond. He wasn't one for idle chitchat and had said all he needed to say. But it looked like something was eating at Landon. And he wasn't the type to keep quiet.

"I came back from the dead. In a burst of flames. And you'd think that would earn a guy a couple of days of feeling special. But the irony about this place is that… Special is just normal. All it takes is one good looking vampire and then I might as well be back at Mystic Falls High. Or maybe I should just tell Hope how jealous I am of vampire Captain America." Landon insecurities caused Penelope to spit take and giggle.

"Roman isn't the biggest problem to your relationship." She stated with a slight giggle.

Duncan wasn't oblivious to the looks Penelope had given him when Landon mentioned Roman. Her last statement levied a subtle accusation against Duncan that seemed to go over Landon's head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Landon asked.

"It means your girl has secrets she hasn't told you about." She stated mischievously. Her accusation growing more bold and overt.

"Like?" Landon asked. His insecurities coming to the forefront more than before.

He wasn't the only one that felt insecure in that moment. Duncan felt it as well. Penelope wasn't bluffing. She had actual dirt on Hope. And he imagined the only skeleton in Hope's closet was what had happened between him and her. He wasn't opposed to the truth coming out but he wanted it on his own terms or hers.

"Penelope don't. They're not your secrets to tell." He stated adamantly at her. Then turned to Landon "And nothing good can come from you hearing it from someone else." He warned him.

"No I want to hear this." Landon said brushing of Duncan's warnings. He was too emotional and invested to listen to reason.

Penelope on the other hand wasn't invested in either letting out Hope's secrets or keeping them. She had no skin in the game. With nothing to lose and nothing to gain. But there wasn't a rhyme or reason to people like Penelope. They were chaotic neutral. Beholden to neither morality nor to the laws of decency.

She would defy Duncan's wishes and expose Hope. To Duncan's relief it wasn't about their indiscretion. It was actually about a matter far more important than their trivial teen drama. He understood why she kept it from Landon and cursed internally at Penelope for exposing her.

* * *

She was dressed like a princess and she felt like it. Spending the afternoon prepping for this moment was the distraction she needed. She was ready to win it all. With her hair and makeup done and the perfect dress everything was perfect. The only thing missing was her prince charming.

She hadn't seen him since he went off on his crusade to accuse a vampire of turning people to stone. Hopefully he would have learnt that Roman was not a threat and he had nothing to worry about from him.

She grew slightly anxious not seeing him at the stairs before they were announced. She was able to soothe her concerns by reminding herself that above everything else Landon was reliable. He wouldn't leave her to flounder alone chasing his insecurities.

"Hey. Where have you been?" She asked relived once he came from behind her.

"Are you okay?" She asked noticing he was more quiet and pensive than usual. But that wasn't the only unusual detail about him. "Why do you smell like a bar?"

"Penelope Park told me that you are keeping a secret." He said causing her heart to skip a beat.

Instantly a thousand question started running through her head. Like how Penelope even knew about her and Duncan? Or why she told Landon? Even why she was talking to Landon in the first place.

"About my mom." He added proving Hope's initial fears wrong.

It was worse than she feared. Bringing her back to reality where she wasn't just keeping one secret that could muddy the waters of their relationship, but keeping another that could break them.

"She says that we met her and that I don't remember it. But you do. She's lying right?" Landon asked to a speechless Hope.

No matter how much she had pushed off telling Landon about her and Duncan. Part of her had always intended to come clean about it. But telling him about his mother was something she never intended to do. It was a secret she was ready to take to the grave. Now that it was out in the open she couldn't find the words to say anything.

"Just tell me she's lying Hope." He begged her to lie to him.

Now they both knew the truth but part of him didn't want to accept it. If she had lied to him he would have taken her word over their reality. That was how much trust he had in her. And she didn't have it in her to betray him any further.

"You know I wasn't always the most honest person but you were the one that taught me the value in being truthful. And the truth… I can't be here." He said walking away from her.

"Landon… Landon." She called out to him trying to stop him. But he kept walking away and she didn't blame him.

"Hope. You're next." Someone announced but she could barely hear them over her beating heart.

Her breathing became more rapid and shallow as overcompensation for how breathless she felt. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, as an important piece of her life came crumbling down. She wanted to slow down her thoughts so she could get her breathing under control. But she was floundering at the basics. All of the ease she felt after cutting loose with the scream was now null and void. She felt herself losing control with every rushed heartbeat.

"I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this." She kept repeating to herself knowing she couldn't handle it all. It was just too much for her. She hated wasting all the work Lizzie and Fiona did to get her ready. But she had to be anywhere else but there.

When she made a move to escape someone stepped in and blocked her path. Seeing him at that moment caused her to freeze. Everything at that moment was completely paused.

"Take a deep breath." He directed her with her following his instructions. "5 more minutes and it will be all over." He continued.

His words although brief and lacking abundant concern calmed her down a bit. She was able to push down everything she had been feeling and bottle it back up. She knew it was an unhealthy coping mechanism, but Duncan was right. Only a few more minutes and it would be all over.

He offered his hand taking Landon's place as her escort and she accepted having no alternatives.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked. It wasn't his M.O. to get involved. In fact his M.O. was the exact opposite he didn't do anything unless it directly affected him. The only exceptions were when it came to Raf and Fiona.

"Fiona asked me to." He confirmed her involvement.

"Of course she did." She said slightly disappointed.

For a moment she had delude herself into thinking he had come to her rescue out of his volition. An act of kindness to help a girl who was floundering and had been left out to dry because of her mistakes. Instead he was compelled by Fiona to step in.

"It's also because I failed to stop her." He said as they walked down the stairs. "Penelope." He added to clarify but Hope was still confused.

"What?"

"I was there when she told Landon the truth. I tried to stop her."

"Why? You had no skin in the game."

"Because it wasn't her secret to tell and I understand why people keep secrets. You didn't want him to get hurt." Duncan validated Hope's choices.

Of course that line of thought would emanate from Duncan. He seemed to be a person enthralled with secrets. Seeing as how many secrets he kept that Hope knew of.

"Is that why you kept Raf in the dark about his family or why you haven't told Fiona about us?" She asked wondering if that was how he vindicated himself. She wasn't a fan of the parallels between them. Both keeping a secret about a loved one's heritage and both keeping the secret of their indiscretion from their significant others. And the only reason she didn't tell Fiona about it was because she thought it would be best coming from Duncan.

"Yes." He answered. "But it's not the only reason we kept our secrets." He said expressing more common ground, but that was dangerous territory.

There was a vulnerability within Duncan, one she hadn't seen since the mind controlling slugs. He seemed honest and unguarded. If she had prompted him they could actually have an honest conversation about what happened between them.

But at her current emotional sate she couldn't handle it. After everything that had happened and with everything going on with Landon, sympathizing with Duncan was the worst thing for her. She couldn't afford to humanize him.

"Let's just get back to the dance." She said hoping to put a stop to it before they went down that rabbit hole.

He agreed with a nod.

There were many differences between Landon and Duncan. Duncan was the taller of the 2 with at least 2 inches on Landon and outweighed him by 30 lbs of muscle. He was also more coordinated than Landon, making him a better dance partner. Landon was the kinder and gentler of the 2 making him far more sociable. He was also more in touch with his emotions than Duncan.

It made a part of her glad that she was dancing with Duncan. He was the type to give her space to breathe and silence to think. Landon would have tried to get her to talk about her feelings and constantly ask if she were okay.

In that moment she need the silent presence of Duncan. And she was receiving it, but that night it came with drawbacks. She would have preferred the old Duncan that existed between anger at her and indifference.

That night was a break from the norm. Even in silence she could tell he was worried about her. The look of concern wasn't palpable on his face but it was enough to be discernable.

The kind of look that brought ambivalence to a rocky situation. She was already dealing with too much and she couldn't stand to face him. Not when he gave her a look that made it hard for her to write him off. She had already gotten herself in trouble the last time she didn't write him off. And the guilt and suffering she received was not worth giving him the benefit of the doubt.

To survive she couldn't think he cared. She needed a distraction so she avoid meeting his gaze. Instead she choose to look elsewhere. Where she found a confrontation between Lizzie and Josie taking place.

Normally she wouldn't ease drop but she needed something to focus on other than Duncan and Landon that were dominating her head space.

"What about your sister's feelings?" Josie asked angry at Lizzie "Do you know how good it would actually be competing in mom's dress? Did you even consider how Hope would feel wearing it?"

"She looks fantastic. She should feel amazing." Lizzie answered back.

"Will she still feel amazing when she learns where it came from?" Josie asked.

Confusing Hope, but she wasn't the only one that was confused. Duncan seemed to join in on eavesdropping on the twins.

"What do you mean where it came from?" Lizzie asked "It was a gift from some guy that used to crush on mom."

"From Klaus Mikaelson Lizzie. Hope's dad." Josie added walking away.

"My dad chose this dress." She said trying to stop herself from unraveling.

"Are you okay?" Duncan asked, voicing his concerns.

She couldn't answer him. She was trying everything in her power to stop herself from falling apart. The bottle she had used was cracking and she was bloodying her fingers trying to hold it steady, but was all getting to be too much for her.

Duncan brought her in closer in an effort to try and comfort her. This was the second time he had come to the rescue when she had been falling apart. And just like before the only comfort he could offer her was his silent presence. But it was barely enough.

She didn't hold it against Duncan. He wasn't an emotional blanket of security that offered emotional support and validation. Nor was he capable of stringing together meaningless words in an effort to help her feel better. He was the strong and silent type and thus the only comfort he could give her was his strong silence.

It wasn't like anything he said could have made her feel any better.

"May I have your attention please? Without further ado it is my honor to announce our very own miss Mystic Falls. From the Salvatore school. Miss Hope Mikaelson." The head judge announced with the spot light shining on them.

He took a step back to allow the light to fully shine on her alone. She didn't want him to leave her. Not when tears were threatening to fly down her face with a single one successfully escaping.

Without his strong and silent presence holding her she felt naked and exposed. She couldn't draw on him as a shield to stop the cracks in her bottle growing even further.

The raging storm with in her was threatening to let loose. And she couldn't stop it alone. Her magic had always been uncontrollable but with her emotions in check she had always been able to manage them. With them running rampant there was no telling what it could do. She was an emotional wreck and a walking calamity.

"Congratulations." Lizzie stepped in hugging her "It's okay. Just let it out the real way. You've been meant to all along." Lizzie encouraged her.

She started siphoning of her excess magic while Hope fully broke down and started to cry. She would've preferred to be held by Duncan, but he couldn't stop her magic. Which made her glad she had befriended Lizzie so that she could accept breaking down in her arms.

* * *

Breaking apart and putting herself back together made her realize her priorities. She and Landon had to have a serious conversation. With the things that had come to light she also had to make sure everything came to light. There wouldn't be any more secrets between them.

"I need to go find Landon." She told Lizzie as she handed her back the dress.

"Just give him a minuet to breath." Lizzie advised "Boys need some space before they come crawling back."

Hope's lack of experience with boys continued to shine through. Lizzie was right about giving him space, but she could only do it for one night. Lizzie was wrong however when it came to who would be crawling.

It was all her fault. Like it has always been her fault, from Landon to her parents. It didn't seem to matter how many time she told her self she was okay. She wasn't.

"I thought I could keep it all together. I've worked so hard to move on from all the things that had happened to me in my life. But everyone was right. Everyone's been right. I believed I let it all out. How did you know what to say? How did you know what to do?" She asked Lizzie who was an instrumental part in putting Hope back together.

"It's just what Josie's done for me a 1000 times. She's really mad at me. I don't think I've ever seen her so angry."

"Landon's pretty mad at me too." She offered as common ground.

"Then let's make a deal. You help me get Josie back and I will help you get Landon." Lizzie said extending her hand with a pinkie out in the open.

Hope accepted the pinkie promise. It was going to be a tough road getting back to Landon and she needed all the support she could get.

* * *

Buddha had been right when he said 'Three things cannot long be hidden, the sun, the moon and the truth.' Eventually it would all come out. Duncan was prepared for that inevitability. He was actually going to make a preemptive strike and reveal it himself, his way that night.

He had to tell Fi the truth and couldn't keep lying to her. He had mustered up the courage to tell her but he had been unsuccessful. This time it wasn't exactly his fault he didn't tell her. She was the one who had canceled meeting up with him that night.

She had to go console Hope after her own secrets had been revealed. It was growing to be a largely murky situation with the way things were. Fi's relation to Hope made the whole entire thing complicated. Which was a bigger case for him to tell Fi the truth. But that mission had been postponed. All because Landon Kirby couldn't handle the truth nor be grateful for the sacrifices people made on his behalf.

He found himself growing more biased against Landon as the days went by. At first he was just the inciting incident to all the turmoil that would ensue once he stole the knife. Then Duncan started to associate him with danger since his presence continued to bring monsters and the threat of Malivore to the gates of the school. Then he endangered Raf on his mad quest to live vicariously through MG almost getting all of them killed. And Raf continuing to endanger himself in an effort to save Landon. Then there was his fervent disrespect to death by resurrecting in a burst of flames. Suffice it to say there were many reasons for Duncan to dislike Landon.

But at the top of that list was something that made Duncan dislike Landon but hate himself for it. He'd never admit it but he was jealous of the beta male. And he was done coveting that which wasn't his. He had to get his house in order before his own time came and it was coming soon.

Duncan found one of his affairs there in a trance like state. A zombie whose only fixation was on the doorknob to Duncan's room. He wasn't sure how long Raf had been standing there, but it was worrisome to Duncan.

"Hey are you oaky?" He asked putting a hand on Raf's shoulder taking him out of his trance. But he still seemed dazed and confused, so Duncan led him inside. He sat him down and waited for him to fully come out of his daze.

"Yo how long have I been here." He asked checking himself to see if he was fully there

"10 minutes." Duncan replied with a drink in hand.

With the pageant complete Fi wouldn't mind if he got hammered. She would probably be pissed he was doing it without her but she had her girl to console and he had his boy. And he knew the reason he was there that night.

"You need a drink?" He asked.

"I don't drink… Not when I'm not in control of myself." Raf explained.

Duncan understood it wasn't the best idea to mix alcohol with a lunar psychosis hangover.

"How are you by the way?"

"Not good… It's like my brain is split down the middle… I keep losing time… And I get these urges… of… of…" He was failing to describe his feelings, but Duncan knew what he was talking about

"Untenable rage and wanton destruction." He said describing it for him. Duncan was no stranger to those urges. And it was worrisome that Raf was feeling them too.

"Yeah, exactly that. Emma said it might have something to do with my family history but she was tight lipped about what that family history actually was and since you're the guy who seems to know more about me then I thought I did, I want you to tell me exactly what my family history is."

"I should warn you the story's not going to be pretty. And it's probably not a good Idea to hear it when you're still suffering from lunar psychosis."

"I spent most of my life not giving a damn about my family history because it was just some abstract thing I would never truly know the truth about. But when it's staring me in the face I can't deny its existence. Especially if it seems to be affecting my mental state. I need to know."

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed "I don't actual know anything about your mother but I do know about your father. He was the grandson of Arthur Walsh who was once an alpha for the Paxon wolf pack. It's how I knew you were a Paxon. Arthur Walsh only had one son Nolan Walsh who would go on to have two sons and a daughter. And of those children only one could have had a child making you the son of Brenden Walsh.

"And to understand the story of Brenden Walsh you need to know the story of the Paxons. They were there at the genesis of the werewolf species along with 6 other bloodlines. Each had their own special powers, something to bring to the table when they were unifying their strengths. The Poldark had agility, the Barry had senses, the BasRoq had werewolf venom, Deepwater had durability, the Malraux had healing, and the Crescents had speed. And The Paxons their strength was strength itself that was amplified when coupled with their berserker like rage. That was what the Paxons gifted to future generation of werewolves. Uncontrollable rage and none felt it more than the Paxons themselves. And with that maddening rage that often led to multiple disputes there is no wonder why they were the most despised of the 7 packs.

"Over the centuries BasRoq fought Poldark, Barry fought Malraux and Crescent fought Deepwater. But they all fought Paxons sometimes colluding with witches and vampires to take them down. Their urges for rage and wanton destruction over the centuries had ostracized them from the werewolf community and made them pariahs. They earned their reputation for being bloodthirsty warmongers as generation after generation exemplified a level rage that could be classified as warrior's madness. And seemingly none was afflicted more by the hereditary warrior's madness and predilection for war and violence than Brenden.

"At 22 his warrior's madness took over him and led him to launch a campaign that ended with the near destruction of the Malraux Pack. Neither the women no children were safe from him and his pack. Even his war mongering father was appalled by near genocide and when he tried to stop his unruly son it ended with his death. Thankfully the altercation between father and son left Brenden weakened to the point that his younger sister was able to mercy kill him before he went on another rampage. That was who your father was Raf. A mad dog that had to be put down like most Paxons that have ever walked the earth." Duncan explained.

Their family history was littered atrocities resembling the Brendan's war 17 years ago. Even though his sister had tried to reform their pack since then. He understood why Paxons were feared even in the werewolf community where there was an understanding loyalty and banding together against the other. And Paxons were always the other.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Nolan Walsh had 2 sons. Brendan and Duncan."

"You're a Paxon too?"

"Yes I am. And we may be descended from a long line of lost causes but our choice are our own, we don't have to be them." He echoed the words his sister had often told him.

She had done her best over the past 17 years trying to take the paxons into a new direction. One where they weren't the warmongers people thought of them. He was the only outlier and remnant of a time long past like his father and his brother. His own fate was sealed by choice, Raf didn't have to become his father, nor his uncle. He had a chance to become like his aunt but with the lunar psychosis exasperating his warrior's madness he had a long road to go.

* * *

 **AN:** Just for some clarification on a couple of things.

1\. In the originals we got the full list of the 7 original packs, but in that list there wasn't The New east Atlantic Pack that Hope and Klaus were descended from so I decided to switch up a bit of the lore. The NEAP was just a name that the originals used to describe it since they had very shallow knowledge of wolf packs. Their actually name is BasRoq. The clan with strongest venom out of all of the packs. Which I am also using to justify why Klaus and Hope's blood is able to heal a bite from any werewolf.

2\. Direct descendant werewolves have greater power than most werewolves especially in their Packs power. For example Hope being a crescent is faster than most direct descendants and Duncan being a Paxon is stronger than most direct descendants. It also has to do with the fact that the more times people have triggered the curse in their bloodline the stronger they are. So a person whose parents triggered the curse is more often than not stronger than someone whose family hadn't triggered the curse in a while. But all of these added advantages are almost negligible. It's like the strength difference between vampires less than 30 years apart. Slightly stronger but not by that much.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** Following the events of episode 15 through the P.O.V. of the trio

* * *

The split in his brain was getting worse. Seeing her coming down the hall way made it worse. His darker impulses came rushing to the surface and he felt like he couldn't control himself. It was like there were no rules nor code of conduct he had to follow. His wolf side slowly taking over and he wanted to compete for what wasn't his.

He was an animal pretending to be human.

"Heads up!" Kevin shouted throwing the medicine ball close to Raf.

He barely reacted as he watched its path go extremely close towards Raf's face. He didn't even recognize the danger the 20 pound medicine ball traveling that fast near his face posed. Instead he was perplexed by it, watching as Jed caught it.

He wondered why the wolves were training with the medicine ball in the middle of the hallway.

"That almost took your head off" Jed warned him.

Raf was slowly getting all of his sense together and realized he wasn't in the hallway anymore. He was in the gym with the wolves working out. He didn't even know how he got there.

"Yo how long have I been here?" He asked seeing he was bit out of breath.

"For an hour, but you've been going through the motions like a zombie. You sure you're okay?" Jed asked concerned.

But Raf didn't trust his intentions. Maybe he actually did care or maybe he was sniffing around to see if Raf was weak. Either way it didn't matter

"Yeah I'm fine. And look you don't need to pretend like you give a crap about me just cause I'm your alpha." Raf explained grabbing the ball from Jed.

He stared him down to remind him he was still alpha male. He wasn't weak. Even with the split in his brain he could still take on Jed and walk out the victor.

"The game's back on come on." He told the rest of the wolves throwing the medicine ball back at Kevin.

Now he was actually present for the game. He had to present a strong front so Jed and the rest of the wolves didn't think he had gone soft. He didn't want the alpha position but he wasn't going to lose it either.

* * *

She knew he was pissed at her for keeping secrets. But she wasn't a fan of him running away. She had given him the night to cool off but he had chosen to steer clear from her the entire morning. He wasn't even there to tell her he was going in person, he took the cowards way out and sent a voicemail.

"Aye Ric. Sorry to take of like that but I just needed a little time so I'm going camping for a while. Hopefully I can catch up on class work later. Tell Raf and Jed hi for me." He said ending the voicemail.

The whole entire thing sounded off and weird. It was all foreboding. Even if he were pissed he wouldn't resort to passive aggressive snubs like forgetting to mention her in the voicemail. The weirdest part of it all was when he mentioned Jed.

"Jed. Why would he say hi to Jed? We should go after him. This doesn't make sense." She explained.

"Hope." Dr. Saltzman tried to grab her attention but she had already gone down the rabbit hole.

"Triad already tried to come for him once. It's not safe for him out there." She continued.

But it was all just a rationalization

"We kept a massive secret from him. And I think he just needs sometime to process that. I think we should respect his privacy and just wait." Dr. Saltzman advised.

* * *

She hated waiting. She hated the uncertainty of it all especially with her relationship hanging in the balance. Things were already as complicated as could be with the other shoe waiting to drop. And she wanted drop the bombshell on him before anybody else could. A lesson she had learned from the other night when Penelope took her choice away.

Now she had to spend her time in purgatory until Landon decided he was ready to start talking again. As a distraction from her own relationship drama, she decided to avoid Fiona and Raf. They were good friends but they were too intertwined with Duncan and anywhere with proximity to Duncan was something she wanted to avoid at all cost.

Usually staying away from Duncan wasn't an issue because he tended to stay away from her but as of late their paths kept crossing far more. And she didn't appreciate the ambivalence he brought with him.

If there was one person other than Hope, that Duncan wouldn't be caught near. It was Lizzie Saltzman. She used to share his distaste for Lizzie, but now they were actually friends and had made amends.

Lizzie's own relationship failures were what Hope needed as a serious distraction from her own. Walking into the kitchen she found the aftermath of a cataclysmic event.

"Was there a monster attack in here?" She asked looking at the chaos.

"There you are. I got tired of waiting and attempted a banana cream pie by myself." Lizzie explained

"Where is it?" She asked noticing a lack of banana cream pie.

"In the garbage. I said attempted. So we are going to go back to plan A and you are going to make it for me." She giddily handed an apron over to Hope as though she was the hired help "Status update. Josie didn't comeback last night. I think she slept in Penelope's old room. Which is a really good way to get hepatitis B." Lizzie threw a snide remark at the girl who was no longer at the school to defend herself.

"Have you slept at all? You seem a little…" Hope asked concerned about her overly energetic and neurotic behavior.

"Focused. Motivated. On point." She jumped in proving Hope's point.

"Sure yeah." She accepted choosing not to go down that rabbit hole.

"Not sleeping in the same bedroom means the twin forgiveness cuddle is off the table. But she's been holed up in the library. So a snack offering should do the trick."

"At some point you might actually have to apologies." Hope called her out on it.

"Never apologies. Trust me okay this is what we do. I'm selfish and then she sulks and then I offer baked goods"

"Someone else's baked goods." Hope responded seeing as she was the one who was going to bake them.

"It's giving you something to do with yourself isn't it? You're turn for an update. Any word from our mop headed elf."

"He says he needs time to think. I don't know I feel like if I could figure out the right thing to say then he'd come back." She admitted.

She couldn't find the words to stop him the night before and she still hadn't found what she wanted to say. Maybe seeing him would force her to get in the moment and try her best, now that she wasn't an emotional wreck. But he had elected to keep the distance between them.

"So practice. Emma has this prism that simulates a conversation. She makes me use it to talk to my mom and my dad when I'm in a state. I'll trade you one prism for a banana cream pie." Lizzie offered.

Now Hope was actually motivated to bake for Lizzie. Practice made perfect and she wanted to make sure she didn't screw up again.

Hope went about baking all of Josie's favorite treats. So that Lizzie could offer up an olive branch instead of actually apologizing. She wasn't sure how effective Lizzie's tactics would be, but with her end of the bargain fulfilled she just had to wait and receive the prism, so that she could test out her own tactics.

"Hi." She said realizing Lizzie walking into her room.

"Knock yourself out. At first it was kind of freaky. Cause you're basically talking to your sub-conscious."

"Thanks. This is for you." She handed her the book "I saw your dad reading it. He keeps it locked up in his office so it's bound to have that merge thing Josie's looking for." Hope explained giving extra insight and ammo for Lizzie to use on her mission of forgiveness.

"For once your weird relationship with my dad actually comes in handy."

"Right." Hope simply accepted that that was how Lizzie would always be "Uh just be careful. If your dad is hiding something I'm sure it's for a good reason."

"I'm sure I can handle it whatever it is. I just have this feeling that everything is going to work out just fine. Can you feel it? It's like the whole school is vibrating. We're both going to get our people back." Lizzie asserted

Hope was still doubtful of everything. It was in her nature to be pessimistic but she was going to try her hardest to overcome everything plaguing her relationship with Landon.

* * *

She chose the docks to have her weird pseudo conversation with Landon. Even with the sun out it was a bit chilly so she brought he coat with her.

She probably should have asked Lizzie how to activate the prism. But didn't. She had to figure it out herself. Thankfully she was attuned to witchcraft and figured out how to activate it rather easily. She placed it in on a bench and let the sun hit the prism.

And just like that, there he was standing in front of her.

"Hey there." He said.

"Hey." She replied. He looked and sounded real, which was such a mind trip for her.

"You okay?" He asked

"Yeah. Yeah sorry. Um it's my first time talking to a magical hologram." She admitted it was all just so surreal.

"Hologram? What do you mean a hologram? What does that mean that I'm not real? What are you talking about?" He asked panicking, which caused her to panic.

"Oh my god." She whispered unsure of what to do.

On instinct she went over to comfort him but remembered he wasn't actually real, then he started laughing. Of course it was a joke.

"Oh my god don't do that." She told him.

"Sorry." He apologized.

"Yeah."

"You just seem tense I was just trying to break the ice."

"Well at least now I know this is a pretty accurate version of you."

"You can thank yourself for that I guess. You had something you wanted to say to me." He said reminding her of why she was out there.

"Yeah. Um I should have told you about your mom and the whole thing earlier. And I was just trying to protect you from being hurt. So I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I hurt you." She apologized.

"What that's it? You're sorry if I hurt you?" He asked confused.

"I am." She replied.

"Okay then I accept your apology if you're actually sorry." His words were dripping nothing but sarcasm.

"What's your problem?" She asked defensively.

"I mean do you seriously think that speech would have worked on me. I mean come on that's not what you actually wanted to say."

He was acting like he knew her better than she knew herself. She knew what she wanted to say but he wasn't convinced.

"How would you know?" She asked.

"Because I am you remember." He replied.

There was no use arguing her subconscious. So she sighed. Taking a breath. She was too combative and just needed a way to get over it.

"Fine, then you tell me what it is you want me to say and I'll say it." She said still a little bit too aggressively.

"That's not how this works Hope. You have to listen." He replied.

"Listen to what?" She asked.

But she didn't get an answer he decided they were done with the conversation even though she wasn't. The hologram just stopped and went back into the prism.

"Even fake you is infuriating. God." She shouted out to the aether since he was already gone.

She had to take a break and try to cool off. And listen to… She wasn't sure what exactly. Her mind was influx and the infuriating conversation had made things worse. It was supposed to help her find out what to say to Landon, not to leave her with riddles.

* * *

It was a tale as old as time. Far older than vampires and werewolves. Humans had been doing it since their genesis. Sometimes unwittingly and other times with intent transgress against another, then ramifications follow suite and things only escalate from there.

A history that kept repeating itself because at the core of the universe there was chaos and conflict. He had partaken in the tale many times before, usually at the center of it, but this time he saw it play out from an outsider's perspective.

"Watch it wolf." Vernon said after Raf bumped into him.

In Vernon's defense he was unaware of the conflict his words would instigate. And in Raf's defense he didn't intend to bump into Vernon his mind was probably still hazy from everything that had happened over the past couple of days. He wasn't fully in control of his mental faculties to at least attempt to deescalate the situation.

"What did you say to me?" Raf asked getting in Vernon's face. Daring him to say it again.

Vernon could have taken the high road brushing it off and deescalating the situation. But Vernon was a vampire, the arrogance and ego that exuded from his kind was sometimes unfathomable. People who had already cheated death once rarely let calmer heads prevail.

"I said watch it wolf!" Vernon replied to Raf's challenge.

The tensions were running high as Raf lost a bit of himself to his anger replying to Vernon's aggression with a beastly growl. On instinct the other wolves started to rally behind their alpha.

"Relax." Someone shouted, but their words fell on deaf ears.

Everyone's pride was in the way and there was no going back especially when some vampires rallied behind Vernon. It didn't matter who was in the right between Raf and Vernon, but people stuck with their tribes against the other.

"Get your vampires out of my face." Raf warned Vernon and his cronies.

The conflict was brewing. And it didn't bode well for the wolves. So Duncan had to play peace keeper before they all crossed the Rubicon. Before he had a chance someone else stepped in.

"Hey, hey, hey stand down." Dr. Saltzman came in rushing stepping in between Raf and Vernon.

Which was a shame because the old man's power was an illusion. Very few realized it and he himself often forgot it. There was little much he could do as a human pushing 50 up against werewolves, witches and vampires. Duncan had heard the stories about the retired vampire hunter and how he was in his younger years. There was even a point in his illustrious career were he once transformed into an original killing vampire.

Those days were long past and he was human now. A human stepping up to an out of control Paxon. It wasn't a situation that was going to end in his favor.

"Get off me." Raf sent Dr. Saltzman flying off like he was an insignificant bug that barley had his attention.

The only person in Raf's sights was Vernon. Duncan saw the signs of the warrior's madness over take Raf. Conflict was now imminent and none of the other wolves would try to stop it. Raf was their alpha. So the job laid with Duncan who had to intervene.

"Hey, hey, wolves stand down. Now!" He order the wolves.

He inspired fear into them which made them pause. But none of that would matter if he didn't stop Raf, even though the other wolves were scared of Duncan they would fight for their alpha. So Duncan tried to stop Raf physically.

But it was hard to deescalate the situation. Duncan's reputation wouldn't be enough to stop the vampires. As much as he hated to admit it anyone of those toddlers could take him on and probably win. With their numbers in a straight fight they would make short work of Duncan and the wolves. Luckily they didn't have to come to that.

"Enough!" Roman stated getting in between the two groups.

Duncan and Dr. Slatzman's power was an illusion Roman's on the other hand was concrete. He was a 100 year old vampire, far stronger than all the baby vamps that populated the school, none of them older than 20. Even in a group they still probably couldn't take him. So the made the only call available to them, they walked away.

Everyone started dispersing, as did the haze Raf was in. He started to fully comprehend what he almost did and more importantly what he actual did as he heard the groans of pain from Dr. Saltzman. He turned to the direction he had flung Dr. Saltzman in earlier.

"Dr. Saltzman." He tried to help him up but Dr. Saltzman backed away.

Duncan could see the fear from the old man. He didn't blame him for being scared. With the side effects of the elixir still hitting him Raf was nearly as unruly as Duncan.

"I'm sorry." Raf regretted taking things so far out of hand. Letting his anger blind him and hurting Dr. Saltzman

"Go and cool off." Duncan placed a hand on Raf's shoulders "I'll take care of him." He said deciding to take responsibility for the whole thing.

Duncan could have stopped things before they escalated. Before Dr. Saltzman had a chance to intervene. While Raf wasn't fully in control his actions Duncan was and it was his job to look after Raf. So he was going to clean up his mess. Doing for Raf what Tess would have done for him.

Raf took his advice and went off to calm down elsewhere. Duncan would have to follow up with im later but for that moment he needed peace of mind, and isolation would give him that.

"What are the chances of him going off again?" Dr. Saltzman asked with concern as Duncan helped him up.

"With everything going on rather high." He replied as the de facto Paxon expert.

"We can't afford an unhinged alpha, especially a…"

"I know." He interjected. He knew better than anyone, the unrest an unruly Paxon could cause "I'll do my best to mitigate everything." He assured Dr. Saltzman.

He had given Raf the tools to defend himself against threats. With his fractured mind he had become the threat. Now it was Duncan's responsibility to pacify the threat he posed to himself and others. Unfortunately Duncan wasn't exactly a bastion of tranquility that was to be emulated. His method of pacification required isolation. Something he had been failing at recently. But he was going to put a stop to it soon.

* * *

Josie's lesson in tough love had gotten to her. She had original gone off to cool off. But she didn't have a calm head anymore. And the fact that it was a hologram made it easy for her to go in hot and heavy and let loose her frustrations in a way she never could with the real Landon.

So she placed the prism on the bench again and let the light refract of it. Causing the hologram to appear. This time she wasn't happy to see it.

"Hey Hope what's going on?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Don't pretend like you don't remember our last conversation." She replied with hostility.

"I just figured you would want a fresh start."

"Hmn guess even my sub-conscious can get stuff wrong."

"Touché. So did you figure out what to say yet?" He asked

"Uh yeah. I did and what I wanted to say was I have been protecting you and putting your safety first ever since you got here. So what was I supposed to do with this secret hm? Just stop protecting you. I know what it feels like to be an orphan. Okay I was saving you from that so you can be mad at me but I was doing it because I care about you."

"No you were doing it because you didn't want me to leave. It's why you didn't tell me about kissing Duncan. Because you fear being abandoned. Like how your mom left and your dad left. It's why you run." He said making a lot of assumptions.

That were wrong.

"This has nothing to do with my parents." She replied

"Then why did you start crying when you wore a dress your dad picked out." He said striking a nerve.

He didn't get to play that card. Not when he wasn't there for the fall out, even Duncan of all people was there for her.

"Wow. Were done." She said walking over to the prism.

"Hope you're not listening." He was right.

She wasn't listening. She picked up the prism ending their conversation. Her family had always been a sore spot for her and she wasn't going to let him guilt trip her with their memory.

* * *

There was no such thing as the right time to break up with a girl. But there was always time to save her from getting hurt. The moment was now. He had chosen to do what was right. She deserved the truth and she deserved to be saved from future heartache.

He had decided that the night before and rallied his conviction but it was all talk unless he actually did the deed. His cowardliness had stopped him before. Ever since their first night and all the subsequent days she got further attached to him. Making it harder and harder for him to do what needed to be done.

He cursed at himself for not telling her sooner and making the job harder on himself. And he cursed himself even more for not wanting to be alone. He had to close that door if there was ever any hope of his torment ending and this was the first step.

"Hey I heard about Raf, is he okay?" Fiona asked coming over to him.

He was seated in one of the benches near the pond. Secluded and away from prying eyes.

"Yeah, he just needs time to adjust to everything." He responded. He didn't find it pertinent to tell her exactly what everything was. He wasn't going to disclose Raf's heritage. It wasn't the truth she needed to her.

"There's something else." She said noticing his somber mood. With the truth coming out he didn't see the need to fake a smile. Everything was already difficult as it was keeping up the façade was too much.

"I have to tell you something." He replied

"What?"

It was the literal moment of truth. He had a chance to continue living a lie or reveal the truth. Either way she would be hurt, but better to do it now than later.

"That night, when the slugs infected everyone. I wasn't honest with you. When I did all of those things to make amends, it wasn't out of some hidden benevolence that the slugs brought to the surface. It was supposed to be a selfish goodbye. Because with my inhibitions lowered I planned on voiding my exile and going back home to kill Demarcus. I knew it would either bring me death or absolution. And I didn't want to die with you still hating me."

"And what about now? What do you want?" She asked.

He could see the tear she was holding back. And the turmoil he had thrusted her in. A part of her was giving him a way out. For him to lie to her and tell that things had changed. But they hadn't.

"I still want him dead." He answered honestly

"He's a 600 year old vampire with a legion of other vampires. If you ever step a single foot back home you'll be dead instantly." She said trying to warn him as though he wasn't in touch with reality.

He knew he didn't stand a chance against Demarcus. As a wolf he barely stood a chance against newbie vamps and ancient vampires were far out of his weight class. But it didn't matter to him. Demarcus had already taken everything from him.

"I know." He replied with full conviction. He wasn't scared of death. He'd been prepared to die a long time ago. Only recently had he encountered roadblocks and now he was doing his best to overcome them.

"If you knew all of this time you were going to get yourself killed then why did you sleep with me?"

"Because I didn't want to be alone." He said telling the truth but not divulging everything.

He had chosen his fate and he wasn't going to come between the 2 girls and rob them off a friend. Fiona and more especially Hope didn't have many of those. So he kept his feelings to himself. They were already a distraction.

"But I'll have to be if there's ever any chance of me finding peace. I have to kill him." He said closing the door on one of his distractions. He had full conviction understanding the consequences of his desire. She could see there was no changing his mind.

"You selfish dick!" She was hurt by his words, and turned her pain to fury. "I knew caring about you was a mistake." She said snapping at him "And I promised myself I wouldn't. But all it took was a simple kind gesture and I was fawning over your feet, but it was all based on a lie. Because your incapable of caring about anyone else's feelings. All you care about is yourself with no thought of the people you'd be hurt when you get yourself killed. The people who cared about you. And instead of returning the favor you chose your own anger and vengeance. So you know what, go ahead. Go on your suicide mission. Die the angry little boy you have always been. Just like your brother. At least you're volunteering to put yourself down." Her words were meant to wound. And they had hit their mark with precision. His brother had always been a touchy subject for him.

Duncan's hardened face fell. His amour shattered to reveal the aftermath of her verbal assault.

She had turned her hurt to anger but now that had turned to regret. Because she realized she had gone too far.

He had been fully prepared for her to lash out. But he didn't except her to hit that hard with a low blow. He knew he deserved for everything he had done. But for her to make the comparison between him and his brother. It hurt like nothing else. A reminder of the lost cause he had become.

She knew she couldn't take back her words. And there was nothing she could say at that moment to alleviate her words.

"I'm sorry." Was the best she could manage and he didn't fault her for it.

"No, you're right. I'm the one who's sorry." Duncan said standing up and walking away.

She didn't try to stop him. Because things had been said that couldn't be unsaid. Only time could heal the wounds they had caused each other. Unfortunately he was out of time.

4 Years he had been at that school as justice went unanswered. Every fiber of his being had been calling for vengeance. The call had gone unanswered because he wasn't strong enough. He was prepared to die but not to waste his life. He had been training to make sure that when the time came he wasn't leaving alone, that he would take Demarcus down with him.

He wasn't ready. He probably never would be. But it didn't matter anymore. He had closed the door on one of his distractions. It was a shame that would probably be his last conversation with Fiona. And after he set things right with Raf he'd have no more tethers. Excuses he used to stop himself from doing what needed to be done.

He was done being soft.

* * *

Man or beast. As the days went by the line between the two got blurrier. In the beginning he had hoped to be the better man he had promised Cass he would be. But every day since then he had felt like a failure, like he wasn't living up to his full potential. Instead he became worse than he had been before. He couldn't control the feelings he had for Hope and he was slowly losing grip of the anger he had tried to manage. He almost endangered the entire pack because he lost control and let his anger get the best of him.

If he continued down his path instead of being a better man he would become a mad dog that had to be put down. Just like his father. A man he never knew but hated more than anyone. He had left Raf with all of his messed up crap to deal with.

"You're not him." Duncan said as he came up to Raf.

Duncan always seemed to have the uncanny ability to know what Raf was thinking. It turns out it was a family thing.

"I know." He replied.

"Good but guys like us. We don't have the luxury of acting out without worrying people. They will always be wondering if we might turn out like him. And they take any aggression as proof that we will. Which is why we have to make sure we don't give them their vindication. And you can't do that like this. Not when you have everything going wrong for you and your mind fractured. You need to take a step back from everything. Give yourself time to heal. And you can't do that worrying about anyone else or the pack. So it's time to step down." Duncan advised.

Which was weird coming from Duncan. He was the one that always stated how important keeping the balance of power was. How it was necessary for Raf to be alpha, because he was the strongest wolf. He couldn't be beat by the others and if he stepped down only an illegitimate alpha could take his place. And the chaos that would breed.

Was Raf so far gone that he had become the greatest to the balance that even Duncan was advising him to step down. It's not like he even wanted the position but it had become a point of pride for him.

"I thought you were all about the balance?" Raf asked.

"The balance isn't above family Raf. And you need a break from it all. I'll arrange everything with the wolves to make sure things aren't disrupted by your absence. And you can use the barn to your discretion whenever you need it." Duncan said giving Raf the keys to the kingdom.

"Thanks."

"Just get better." He said walking away.

The burden Raf had been dealing with for months was now lifted. And instead of feeling relief, he felt sadness because he couldn't enjoy it. Not with split in his brain getting worse, and having to come to terms with his legacy.

Now he had all the time and the world and none of the responsibility so he could work on himself.

* * *

Tough love didn't work before because she was throwing stones in a glass house. She wasn't sure if it would ever work. But she couldn't do it again. Finding out about the merge had turned all of her problems to non-factors. What was petty drama compared to the ticking clock of impending doom for the twins. In 6 years one of them would have to kill the other to complete the merge.

Luckily for them 6 years was a long time. And they would all do their best to try and avert the merge.

With her mind quiet and time to think. She finally knew what she wanted to say. She wasn't going to go in hostile this time or showing tough love. She had to be open and honest about everything. Despite her propensity not to be vulnerable. Because usually when she was vulnerable, she always ended up getting hurt.

But if she didn't open herself up Landon was the one who was going to get hurt in the end.

"What I said before about wanting to protect you. That was true. But I also didn't want you to go. And yeah you know what I hate it when people leave. I hate it. I thought I was over losing my parents. I don't know after the last couple of days and then after seeing you lying there in the woods. Thinking that you were dead because of me. Every time I'm with someone this voice in my head tells me 'It's your fault' that I shouldn't even technically exist. That I'm a cosmic mistake. I don't know I guess I just wanted someone who thought I was worth staying for.

"I'm sorry for lying to you Landon. I wanted you to stay. It's why I also didn't tell you about Duncan. And it wasn't just about the kiss. It was because I went to him afterwards before I went to you. I went to him first because…" Even though she knew it deep down she found it hard to actually say it.

"You're not in love with me. You're in love with him." He said saying finishing it for her.

Ever since that night when he kissed her. And the subsequent days when he seemed to let his guard down. When he didn't seem to have hate or apathy for her. She had felt her dormant feelings for him slowly resurrecting. Even after she found him kissing Fiona, she could still feel them creeping up. She tried to hide from it by overcompensating with Landon, but that was driven more by guilt and fear than anything else.

Fear that she was in love with a guy that just didn't care about her.

"It's okay. I understand." He seemed hurt but he was accepting of it. He was even comforting her. But then again it was her sub-conscious. It was really him accepting her breaking his heart.

"How would he really react?" She asked. Unsure of what the real him would've done.

"That was how he would react. You know he'd just say something funny and self-deprecating trying to deflect from his heart ache. Then he would try to comfort you because even if you're not in love with him, he's in love with you. And he'd make a sweeping declaration to get you back" Landon replied.

That was just the kind of person he was. Sweet, kind and caring. He was a really good guy. It's what she loved about him, but she wasn't in love with him. She had tried to do it and failed.

"And I'm in love with a guy who doesn't care." She said in a self-deprecating manner. Taking a page out of Landon's playbook. Trying to comfort him in some kind of weird way. Sharing in his pain of unrequited love.

She wondered how truly broken she must have been, because when given the choice between a person who truly cared for her and a person who barely did. She chose the latter. She was starting to accept that about herself. And that was the first step to becoming a better person. Accepting she had flaws.

"You're quiet." She said noticing he hadn't said a word in over 5 minutes.

"I'm waiting." He said confusing her.

She had bared her soul and revealed the truth.

"Seriously after all that. What else could I possibly have to say?" She asked

She had already broke his heart what more was there.

"What you've been trying to tell yourself all day. But there was too much noise in your head so you couldn't hear it. I'm in trouble Hope."

"What?" She asked confused.

"You already know that's true. I mean I went into the woods but I didn't take my journal or any camping gear. I left clues in the voice mail that something wasn't right. I called Dr. Saltzman Ric, I would never do that." He explained.

And the pieces of the puzzle she didn't even realize she was trying to solve came together. Things were stating to make sense. Especially her foreboding feeling. It had nothing to do with their relationship in jeopardy. But she was too distracted to realize.

"You said hi to Jed" She said realizing how much weirder it was than she first thought.

"Last time I said hey to Jed he beat the crap out of me. I was trying to tell you that something wasn't right."

"What happened?" She asked.

"Hope for the last time, just listen."

And she did. This time unhindered by her own problems. She heard the message again. Truly listening to it. She could hear shoe's on a tile floor, an air conditioner running and a key card being swiped. Her past rationalization had actually been true. He was taken by triad.

And she had spent the entire day worrying over which boy she liked more. While one of them was in danger. Now she had to go rescue him. And she couldn't do it alone.

* * *

So she went about rallying her troops and getting together her super squad. Minus a member. For his own good.

"I'm coming." He said busting through her room.

"Hello to you too. And uh no you're not." She replied to his lack of manners.

"Look last time you did this without me it was a disaster."

"Except I'm not going to go alone this time. I'm going to draft the twins, Fiona MG, Kaleb were going before Dr. Saltzman gets back. It will be like the super squad assemble. I don't know is that a thing?" She asked but he wasn't interested in answering. Comic books probably weren't Raf's thing. "Yeah I'll just ask MG." She said referring to the comic book expert.

"Yeah I'll ask him myself." Raf wasn't backing down.

"Raf! Dr. Saltzman told me about the side effects, I'm sorry but I can't let you come."

She had already risked his health for Landon once before. Even then it was during dire circumstance. Now she had the man power to take on all of triad without him. She wasn't going to risk him unnecessarily

"How do you feel now?" She asked, realizing she hadn't asked before.

"Like my brain's split down the middle. I keep having these flashes like I can't control myself. And…"

"It's why you're not coming on the mission." She said putting her foot down.

He was disappointed. But she would rather have him disappointed than hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked, because before, everything she had heard about him came from second hand.

Dr. Saltzman had told her how much of a tough time he had been having since Landon's death and subsequent resurrection. If anyone had had a tougher time dealing with it than Hope, it was Raf. Coupled with his heritage being revealed and the lunar psychosis.

It all seemed to be crashing down on him. She'd even heard how he almost started a brawl the other day. Through it all he never came to her. And that was partly her fault since she was avoiding him to avoid Duncan.

"You know why." He said bringing up the elephant in the room she had forgotten about.

"Oh my god." With everything happening between her Landon and Duncan, he was the one that had been lost in the shuffle.

Between overcompensating by being attached to the hip with Landon and trying to avoid Duncan and all the other chaos that happened. Hope and Raf had never had the chance to talk about what he said when the slugs had gotten him.

"I don't know how to be around you Hope. I don't want to feel this way. So I push it down. And that just makes the split in my brain worse. Which makes it harder to hide. And the only person I want to talk about it with is the only person I can't" He explained.

It would be a rather difficult conversation to have. When someone has feelings for their brother's girlfriend. And she imagined even with someone like Raf who Duncan actually cared. Getting touchy-feely was something out of the question for them. He had nobody to turn to.

"Raf. You're a good brother but for once you need to put yourself first. Do what you need to get better."

That was the problem with self-sacrificing people. It was harder for them to take care of themselves because they didn't have the experience. But she thought of a way she could help him along the process

"If things get really bad" She walked over to her dresser to get a crescent heirloom.

"Use this." She said handing it to him "It's a long story, but um, it was a gift from a family friend. But it is essential like a reverse kaynite ring. When you use it you can turn yourself at will. In your wolf mind things are less complicated. It will by you time to heal. Only catch is you can't turn yourself back. So if you do use it. All you have to do is come find me when you're ready to be yourself again."

"I am really glad I know you. Hope Mikaelson. Now go. Go save our boy don't let anything stop you." He said giving her permission to go on without him.

And he was right. There was nothing that could stop her from saving Landon. But she felt bad because after she saved him she would have to break his heart.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Following the events of the season 1 finale. Through the P.O.V. of Hope

* * *

Even though she wasn't in love with him she still loved him. And she had made a promise to herself to protect him and nothing would stand in her way. She was going to save Landon. But at the moment she was a bit more concerned about Raf.

"Hey are you okay?" She asked noticing how mindless he had been for the past 5 minutes. Just going through the motions as his mind seemed to be preoccupied.

"Um, my mind still won't settle down. Look I'm sorry that I can't join the fight." He said apologizing for the second time.

The only person that cared for Landon more than she did was him. But with everything going on in his mind he couldn't go on the mission.

"Don't worry, I'm not going alone. My squad answered the bat signal." She said pointing at her super squad walking down the hall. With the addition of a member she hadn't quite foreseen joining the fray.

Not everyone in her squad was the biggest fan of Landon, but they were coming anyway because they wanted to do good. And at least cared about him because he was a student at the school. But Duncan didn't have those inclinations. It's why she did count on him in the first place.

"He stays." He said looking towards Raf.

Of course Duncan wasn't coming because of Landon. He was coming in place of Raf so that Raf wouldn't have to go.

"I wasn't planning on going." Raf replied.

Switching out Raf for Duncan was going to make the whole entire trip more awkward for Hope. She was going on a mission to save her boyfriend then break up with him because she was in love with another guy who was going on the same mission with his girlfriend/ her roommate. She wondered to herself exactly at what point did she end up on a CW teen drama.

"Where's MG at?" Kaleb asked.

"He's on his way." She answered. He had told her he had to take care of some business with the gorgon. "Let's Load up while we wait for him. Come on." She said leading her merry band of witches, werewolves and vampires to the bus.

They had to unofficial borrow it for the mission to triad. But on the way they were confronted by group wearing tactical gear.

"Aw sorry. We were about to knock." The leader of the group said to them in a southern drawl.

"Who the hell are you?" Lizzie asked.

"Names Burr. Triad industries." Burr proudly proclaimed.

But that was a mistake. Triad was on Hope's hit list.

"Propelia." She tried to cast as spell to knock them all back. But nothing came from it. Her magic wasn't working.

"I got this." Kaleb decided to take charge and tried to rush them with his vamp speed. But the moment he got out of the shadow and into direct sunlight he started burning up. "What?" He asked confused by his daylight ring not working.

"What you don't got is magic. Which is why your daylight ring won't work. And what we have are stakes, wolfsbane and other things. So I think you should invite us inside." He said threatening them as his men aimed their crossbows and guns at them.

And they didn't have much choice. There wasn't much most of them could do without magic. Lizzie, Josie and Fiona were sitting ducks without it since they barely had any martial training to take on an army. Kaleb couldn't do anything fighting from the shade the building provided. And Burr had too many people on his side for Duncan and Hope to try and fight them off.

The odds didn't get any better on the inside when Burr started holding the school hostage. The younger kids were liabilities and Hope and her squad had to buy time to figure out a strategy. So they pretended to follow his orders and search for the Chalice of arithmetic. In reality the squad broke up into units to find a way to reach Dr. Saltzman and come up with a plan. Kaleb and Fiona stayed back to watch over the rest of the school. While Lizzie and Josie went to Dr. Saltzman's room in search of the other school phone incase Duncan and Hope failed to get the landline in his office.

* * *

She wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of going alone with Duncan. But she wasn't also thrilled with the idea of searching Dr. Saltzman's room and finding god knows what. And since Duncan and Hope were the people that spent the most time in his office. Duncan for disciplinary purposes and Hope for mentorship. They were the ones best equipped to find the phone.

Even though it wasn't an ideal situation she wasn't going to let her awkwardness with Duncan compromise the mission. She was in full hero mode as she busted in to Dr. Saltzman's office. She went straight to the phone while he closed the door behind them.

"It's dead. We have to find the school cell." She told him going off in search of it at possible locations Dr. Saltzman could have hidden it.

It was one of 3 cells kept in the entire school. Dr. Saltzman seemingly didn't want to trust supernatural teenagers with technology they could use to post online about their supernatural exploits. So he made it a policy to only have 3 phones in the school in case of emergency. A protocol meant to ensure their safety but was now putting them in danger.

Especially since he never divulged exactly where he kept the phone. Even keeping it from Hope. But Duncan seemed to know where it was hidden because he walked over with purpose to a bookshelf. Pulling out a book and removing the cell that was hidden inside.

"Here." He said tossing it over to her "You're his favorite." He passed on the responsibility of explaining to Dr. Saltzman what was happening at the school.

So she called him.

"Whoever this is gets extra credit." He said picking up the phone.

"It's Hope, Triad is here." She explained.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked.

"Yeah but our powers are gone." She answered.

"What do they want?"

"They said that the 3rd artifact is in the school somewhere." She explained.

"You're kidding."

"The chalice of arithmetic. Or something I don't know…" She told him.

"Arimathia." Duncan chimed in correcting her.

"Uh the chalice of Arimathia." She said correcting herself to Dr. Saltzman. Artifacts were very specific and some sounded the same which would have caused confusion.

"Ah listen. I have to find my way into the school. Just promise me you're not going to do anything crazy." He asked her to make a promise she couldn't keep.

"We're not the only ones in danger. Landon is too. I just can't stand here and do nothing." She replied.

She had already spent an entire day with him in danger trudging about her tangled feelings. Instead of realizing he was in danger. She couldn't postpone rescuing him any further. They had to take back the school so they could save Landon.

"Hope for once in your life can you please just listen to me. If Triad wants the chalice help them get the chalice. You don't have your powers and you are vulnerable. And if you try to resist someone could get hurt. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah." She said lying to him and dropping the phone.

She couldn't stand by and do nothing. She had called Dr. Saltzman hoping he would have a plan for them to combat Triad, but his plan was inaction. And she couldn't do that. She needed to find a way to fight back and she couldn't do that without her powers.

"We need to get our powers back and find a way to kick paramilitary ass." She said as her first order of business.

"Then we need to figure out how they are stopping them." Duncan replied getting on board. He wasn't the sort to try and talk her out of it.

"Well at least we know where you stand." Burr said as he opened up the doors to the office.

"You're damn right we do." She said stepping up to him. She never liked bullies.

"You're not very scared of me are you? How about now?" He said pulling out a gun which caused her to laugh.

"That's your plan. You're going to shoot a kid?" She asked the grown man trying to threaten kids with a gun.

"This gun could never harm a human child. You two however." He said loading up the revolver with bullets "These bullets were formed from the mud of the Malivore pit and weaponized by Triad scientist. It can break the skin of any supernatural like a hot knife through butter. Fester, infect them and disintegrate them from the inside out. Now?"

His threats seemed to fall on deaf ears. Because he didn't scare them.

"I guess a demonstration is in order. Eeny." He pointed the gun at Hope "Meeny." He said switching to Duncan "Miny" He pointed it at Hope again. Duncan was going to be Moe. But Hope couldn't let that happen.

"Moe." Hope tried to rush him before he could try and shoot it at Duncan. But before she could he pulled her back and getting in Burr's line of fire as he pulled the trigger. Twice.

Duncan's dropped like a like a thick stone.

"No, no, no, no, no Duncan." She said trying to hold him as he writhed in pain. "It's okay, it's okay." She tried to convince herself and him.

"Lock them up." Burr told his men as they hauled them off to the cells.

As they did she could see the pain he was in as the bullets started to fester. If Burr was telling the truth then it would continue to infect him and disintegrate him from the inside out. All because she was too slow to jump in front of the bullet for him.

* * *

She was a direct descendant of the crescent clan. Speed was her greatest gift. She should have moved quicker. But she was a failure. She had always been a cosmic mistake. She was the one who should have been shot.

Instead she had condemned another person to death for saving her. She had tendency to do that to the people she loved. A living curse that brought pain and suffering were ever she went.

First it was her mother who died because she missed her dad too much. Then it was her supposedly immortal father and uncle because she thought she could take on the hollow all on her own. Then it was Landon because she felt guilt being around him after kissing Duncan. Thankfully he was part phoenix and resurrected, but that didn't take away from her sin. Now it was Duncan's life on the line, less than a day after she admitted to herself that she was in love with.

He was going to die and it was all her fault.

"I am so sorry. I dragged you into this and I have no idea how to get us out." She apologized to him regretful of her own uselessness. He was going to die and she was going to bear witness to it while they were both locked up in the cells

"It's not your fault. I chose this." He said trying to absolve her of her own guilt.

"But you shouldn't have taken the bullets for me." She lamented noting how slow it was healing for him. Maybe for her it would have been better since she was part vampire and had incredible healing. She was the one who should've been shot. Enough people had died for her already.

"Like I said I chose this." He said indifferent to his own impending death.

"How are you so resigned to dying for a girl you barely care about?" She asked perturbed by his apathy at giving away his life for hers. She may have loved him, but she didn't fool herself into thinking he reciprocated the feeling. Even if he did he took it too far by giving his life for hers.

"I've never been scared of death. I was always prepared for it. My greatest fear was the people I'd hurt in the wake of my demise. But since they won't remember me it doesn't matter."

"No I'm not going to let you die." She made a promise she couldn't keep.

She didn't know how to keep him from dying. She barely knew anything about Malivore of how to stop its weaponized effects. Even she could find away the bullets were infecting him at a rate that would kill him in 10 hours.

"There's nothing you can do." He said giving up "What's done is done." He had seemed to accept his fate but grunted in pain as the bullets continued to fester.

He had been putting on a brave face all of this time but she could see the pain he was in. And even in that department there was little she could do without her magic and locked in a cell.

"Then the least I could do is help take the pain away. Take some of my blood." She offered the best solution she could.

Even with her magic blocked her blood could probably still heal him or at the very least make his pain more manageable. Whatever was blocking the magic in the school didn't block the immutable characteristics of the students. It's why Kaleb was still able to vamp speed and she could still feel her lycanthrope enhancements.

But Duncan wasn't open to the idea. Like most wolves he was a purist and wouldn't take blood from a vampire even someone who was on 1/3 vampire. He'd refuse to take her blood even if it could help alleviate the pain.

"Stop being stubborn." She told him.

"Hey! Keep it quite in there." A guard came and banged on the jail cell with a baton.

They did want to antagonize the further so they waited till he left to talk.

"Come on, you already dying you don't need to suffer." She said trying to persuade him, but he was rooted in his decision "If you're not going to take it for yourself, then take it for me. I can't stand to see you in pain." She admitted.

It was bad enough he was dying because of her he didn't have to suffer, when her blood could help. It wasn't going to absolve her of her guilt but at the very least she could say she tried.

"Fine." He relented to her relief.

She asked him for something sharp and he passed her a pocket knife he had stashed away. After cutting herself she feed him her blood hoping it would at least help with the pain.

"It's working." She said when to both of their surprise it started working quickly as the bullet stopped festering

"More than that. I think it might have cured me." He said as the marks the bullet caused. Healed and even disappeared as though they were never there.

The elation and relief she felt, over shadowed all the previous guilt and sadness she felt. She hugged him thankful she didn't have to say goodbye to him. For all of the pain and sorrow she had caused at least she had been able to save him. She hadn't destroyed one of the people she cared about again.

What made the moment all the more better was that he hugged her back.

"I'm so glad I don't have to lose you." She admitted in a moment of vulnerability still in his embrace.

He didn't respond instantly but his arms went limp. Which made her feel self-conscious. That maybe she had revealed far more than she had intended to. Even though she was in love with him she never intend for him to hear about it. There were a myriad of reasons not to. On top of that list currently was that he was with Fiona and she was still with Landon.

Before he could respond the guard had come back and banged on the jail cell again.

"I said 'Keep it down in there'." Before he collapsed after getting shot.

"Where not losing anyone today." MG had come to the rescue with his corny one liner.

* * *

Instead of focusing on her weird moment with Duncan she switched focus towards the mission. Which was currently save the school then save Landon with the super squad. MG started to fill them in one what was affecting their powers.

"A blood fountain. Gross." She stated picturing it.

"It's even grosser in person trust me. I was looking for a way to shut it off but I couldn't figure out how."

"It may be a traveler dark object. I might know how to switch it off." Duncan offered his assistance.

"Alright we'll go find the secret tunnel I guess." She said deciding to go with him in case he was wrong. And it never hurt to have a knowledgeable witch when it came to dark objects.

"Thanks we get our magic back, when can get the upper hand." MG replied.

With their powers back they wouldn't just be able to stand a chance against Triad they would actually win.

"We'll be back as soon as we can." She promised him.

"You need to go help Landon. We don't need you to be here." MG told her.

"But I can't leave you guys here." She knew saving Landon was important and it was the first on her priority list. But she couldn't just leave when their home was under siege.

"We've been watching you save the day this entire school year Hope. We got it. Go save Landon." MG said giving her his blessing to go on without them. And she took up his offer.

She didn't go because she was abandoning them in favor of Landon. She was going because she trusted her squad to take care of things while she went to rescue Landon.

So she and Duncan made their way through the tunnels. Ending up at the gross blood fountain and it was grosser than she had originally thought. Weird Blood was flowing down skull after skull that was conjoined.

* * *

She wasn't going to lie. Despite her uncle Kol being an expert of dark objects and her aunt Freya dabbling in them. She herself was bit out of depth when it came to the blood fountain. So she deferred to the supposed expert on it.

"Can you turn it off?" She asked as they both studied it.

"Yeah." He allowed some of the blood to drip on his index and middle finger. Then started to trace blood on some of the carvings on the skulls. When he was done the blood started to stop dripping and she could feel her magic again

"How did you know how to do that?" She asked realizing a werewolf, shouldn't know more about dark objects than a witch that was mentored by 1000 year old family members.

"This is a dark object made by the travelers. They were a subsection of witches that specialized in anti-magic. Before they got wiped out" Duncan explained the dark object but not how he knew about it.

But that wasn't the pressing question on her mind. She realized Triad probably had the resources to get such a dangerous dark object. But she didn't know how they were able to get it into the school.

"How did Triad even get it in here? How did they know that there were tunnels?" She asked realizing how many things didn't add up.

"Triad didn't put here." He answered cryptically.

"Then who did?" She asked.

"Dr. Saltzman." He answered causing her to be disconcerted by his insinuation.

"What? Why would he do that?" She asked.

"He's a human who operates in the world of the supernatural. He'd need to have a contingency plan in case we ever became a threat." He explained.

"Dr. Saltzman would never do that." She said in his defense.

It violated everything he stood for. And it was a total betrayal of the promise he made to keep them safe from the world. Because just like it he conspired to push them down if they so much as took step out of line. Instead of hoping they would be heroes he was preparing for them to be villains. As though it was impossible for them to play any other role.

He always spoke about how she wasn't her father. And that she could be better than he was. But he said one thing and thought the other. If he felt the need to not only have the dark object but to keep it secret from her. She thought that the level of trust they had in each other would at least allow him to confide in her.

"He didn't have a choice. The strong will always prey upon the weak. The gifts and abilities supernatural creatures have will always make them the strong and humans the weak. And the only way for them to survive is for them to compensate with ingenuity and guile." Duncan explained coming to Dr. Saltzman's defense. Which was weird seeing as the 2 didn't get along well. Mostly due to Duncan's disciplinary issues.

"Then he's no different than Triad." She said still a bit angry at the breach of trust.

"You say that because you feel a bit betrayed." He replied calling her out on it "But there is a difference between Dr. Saltzman and Triad. They may both fear us. But one makes weapons to kill us, while the other builds a school where he can nurture our better traits and only has a contingency plan in case we get out of line. At his core he wants the best for us." Duncan came to Dr. Saltzman's defense again "Then again you can ask him yourself." Duncan said as the light of torch shone on them.

She looked back to see Dr. Saltzman.

"I told you to wait for me." He said walking over them.

"In a shocking turn of events. I ignored you." She replied.

"Yeah Hope about that…" He tried to chastise her. But her wrongdoing didn't compare to his.

"Save the speech okay. I'm not the only one who broke a promise." She nodded over to the blood fountain. That was the literal embodiment of his betrayal

"How did you even deactivate this?" He asked, instead of explaining himself.

"Duncan did." She answered.

"How did you even know how to do this?" He asked Duncan.

Making her realize Duncan hadn't really explained how he knew what he knew. Like where the school phone was hidden. Or how he knew about the blood fountain and how do disable it.

"Because I don't trust you." He responded bluntly towards Dr. Saltzman

"And it seems I shouldn't have either." Hope added still a bit infuriated.

"Listen I will explain everything to you later okay. Right now we have to go save the school." He changing the discussion and heading off towards the school.

"I have to go save Landon." She said to him. She had already put it of too much.

"You can't do it alone." Dr. Saltzman replied.

"I'm going with her." Duncan volunteered himself as her backup.

"Fine. Look out for each other." He said giving them his blessing.

* * *

And off they went. Dr. Saltzman to save the school while Duncan and Hope went to rescue Landon. Duncan had proven rather indispensable in the effort. For some odd reason he had a car stashed away nearby the school, with many weapons from multiple stakes to an axe and a 'don't ask' level of cash. Which all ran red flags in her mind.

She didn't ask because she probably couldn't get an answer out of him. This wasn't the Duncan of the past couple weeks who was relatively vulnerable and open. Instead he seemed to be regressing back to his closed of self.

If she didn't know any better she'd think he was a secret agent or some type of spy fulfilling clandestine missions. Considering who he was that seemed to be a rather logical answer which could even explain some of the mystery behind him. But it wasn't plausible.

Even though she didn't know truly Duncan very well it was a bit farfetched for her to think he was a spy. Unless spy agencies started recruiting prepubescent children. Because she had known Duncan since they were 13.

The most logical answer was that he was a hunter or at least a hunter in training. It was even more plausible considering his relation to Jeremy Gilbert.

The supernatural hunter that was responsible for her uncle Kol's second death. He said he didn't hold a grudge because he had lost count of how many times he had died after that. But he kept coming back because death couldn't keep him down.

She had a lot of time on her hands to speculate about Duncan. It was a long ride from Mystic Falls, Virginia to Fort Valley, Atlanta. And on that long journey the more she speculated on Duncan, the more she thought of him and everything that had happened between them over the past weeks.

Then she thought about the elephant in the room neither of them had ever talked about. But it caused Hope a tremendous amount of trouble. Constantly making her emotions go in flux as she cycled between variations of guilt and ambivalence that led to the revelation of her true feelings. All of which started with a kiss. That would later kill her relationship and endanger his.

She seemed to be the only one feeling awkward about the elephant in the room. Because he was dead set on driving.

"I'm going to tell Landon about the kiss." She informed him of her plans "I'm done keeping secrets from him but I also don't want to ruin your relationship with Fiona. So you should probably tell Fiona too before she finds out." She said warning him.

She killed her own relationship by being in love with another guy. And she already felt bad about being the other woman in a sense when it came to Duncan and Fiona. Even though technically she and Duncan kissed before he and Fiona were in an actual relationship. Keeping that tidbit of information to herself made her just as culpable as the other woman.

What made it worse was that she was in love with her roommate's boyfriend. But she was going to let those feelings die as she had done before. She wasn't going to try and actively ruin their relationship.

"She and I broke up." He replied seemingly detached from it.

She hadn't realized they had broken up. Fiona hadn't said a word to her about it. But that was probably because Hope had been dealing with her own situation with Landon.

The break-up seemed to explain why Duncan was trying to revert back to being indifferent. She never liked him when he was indifferent. Although part of her wished he had the apathy that night. It could have saved both of them a lot of trouble. She never would have let her guard down around him when he was indifferent or hostile.

"Was it because of me?" She asked wondering if she had come between them like he had come between she and Landon.

"No. It was because of something else. I never told her about the kiss."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want to come between you two. Both of you don't have many friends and you both need each other."

"And what about you. What happens to you?" She asked. Fiona was like an anchor that showed and another side of Duncan, just like Raf. They were the only 2 people he seemingly cared about. And for him to lose one of them she worried he might actually revert back fully to the person he used to be.

"After we save Landon. I have some overdue business I have to settle in Ireland." He informed her on his plans for the future. Which didn't have anything to do with either Hope or Fiona.

"What is it with you and Ireland?" She asked recognizing it was the second time he had mentioned leaving the school and going to Ireland.

Then her recognition led to a greater epiphany as she put the puzzle pieces together. Fiona was an Irish girl from Duncan's past added with his fixation on Ireland. His frightening reputation he had among the wolves because he was far stronger than the rest of them and angrier than any of them. His bond with Raf who he knew was a Paxon long before any of them.

The signs had been staring her in the face all of this time and she had missed them or ignored them. A temperamental Irish werewolf.

"Oh my god you're a Paxon too." She said as the enigma that was Duncan Grayson was starting to be demystified.

It explained why they probably always ended up at odds. Because he was a Paxon and she was a Crescent. Like all of the bloodlines from the original 7 packs, the Crescent had their own arch rivals in the BasRoq in addition to that they had the Paxons as enemies just like the other 5 bloodlines.

Paxons were the designated bad guys of the 7 packs. A well-earned reputation despite the past decade of rebranding. He fit the mold of a typical Paxon to a T far more than Raf did. Abhorrent social skills, massive anger issues, a holistic outsider and tough as boot.

"I am." He replied not denying it.

She remembered a couple of years back, 4 or so. About a direct descendant of the Paxon clan who had been exiled from his pack, after restarting a war in Ireland. It was in that very same year that Duncan showed up at the school. Making him a direct descendent too.

"So what are you Raf's cousin or something?" She asked.

"His uncle. Paternal." He answered.

It finally explained why Raf out of all the wolves at the school was the only one Duncan cared about. It was because they were family. It was why he was on the mission to save Landon.

"And Fiona where does she fit in all of this?" She asked wondering why a witch was entangled with Paxon. She probably she should have pried a little further on her friend's history. She might have been able to deduced Duncan's identity sooner.

"Not my secret to tell." He answered. And he was right. She'd have to ask her herself.

"Who else knows?" She knew he had a natural affinity to secrets, but he couldn't have been able to keep the secret to himself all of these years

"Dr. Saltzman and Emma."

"Of course he'd keep this from me too." She said realized there was no end to his secrets.

"Ease up on the old man. He kept his secrets for reasons from everyone including you. He didn't reveal your heritage to everyone. In the same he didn't reveal mine heritage to anyone. As the person in charge of taking care of walking doom magnets it was his responsibility to protect them from threats, themselves included. And to do that efficiently he has to keep certain secrets from everybody." He came to the defense of Dr. Saltzman a 3rd time. "And now that you know about me. You have to keep the secret as well."

"I wasn't exactly planning on shouting out your secret to the world." She knew how to keep a secret. Especially one like this.

When one Paxon crossed the Atlantic Ocean it was a cause for concern. People would be even more worried if there were 2 direct decedents roaming around. It was the signs of an invasion. And the last time a Paxon invasion happened her aunt Keelin lost her entire pack.

"Good then let's go save your boyfriend." He said reminding her of Landon.

The guy she was going to break up with because she was in love with a Paxon. But before all of that he was the guy she had to go rescue.

* * *

Raiding Triad had proved to be easier than expected. She thought she would have to go full Wonder Woman if she wanted to siege Triad. But when she got there everyone was already dead. Which worried her, she hoped Landon wasn't amongst the dead. If he was at the least she hoped he would resurrect.

She and Duncan went in search of life but all they found was carnage. As they went further into the inner sanctum of the building they heard a commotion and rushed to it as fast as they could. When they got there they found Landon fighting against some type of headless monster. He wasn't exactly fighting, but he was struggling

"No, no, no, no please don't." He screamed as the monster threw some object she considered to be the 3rd object towards the pit.

She couldn't let the pits Malivore open again. So she cast a spell on the object before it landed on the pit. Calling it towards her hand where she caught it.

"Hope. I knew you'd find me." He said relieved she had come for him.

With the artifact in hand she had become the new target of the monster and it let Landon go to come after her.

"Just followed the clues you left in that voicemail. You're great at riddles you should probably add fight training to your course work though." She said after the abysmal defense he showed against the headless monster.

As the monster headed towards them Duncan rushed to confront it. He started attacking the monster with his axe, and he was putting up a good fight. But the monster wouldn't go down. She knew he wouldn't appreciate her help in trying to beat the monster, but his ego wasn't worth risking the rise of Malivore. So she jumped into the fray to help him in battle.

Even with the both of them trying to take it down, the monster still stood. It survived their physical attacks no matter how hard the hit it. Even when he buried his axe in its chest it was still standing, whipping around with its bone whip. With their physical attacks not working Hope tried to use her magic but that too was ineffective.

All of the death spells she was trying to cast on the monster weren't working. Even her fire spells didn't affect it. It was like it was almost impervious to magic. The only spells that worked on it were her telekinetic spells that could only push it slightly back. The headless monster was proving to be unkillable.

"He won't die. You know sci-fi stuff. How do I kill him?" She asked Landon as Duncan buried his axe in its back.

"Uh headless horseman is more fantasy." He replied making the distinction.

"Get to the helpful part." She prompted him to give her more pertinent information.

As Duncan dislodged the axe in its back it struck him hard throwing him to the other side, while it whipped her from a distance.

"Ah!" she said as the pain rushed form her hand to the rest of her body.

"In the Tim Burton movie they defeated him by giving him a bride." He said as the monster continued its onslaught.

Duncan had recovered from its previous attack and while it was distracted attacking Hope he struck it down with his axe at the back of the legs bringing it to its knees

"That wouldn't be my first choice." He added.

"Me neither." She replied as the only girl there.

"In the og cartoon version he had a pumpkin head that he might keep with his horse. Correction he's got it under his cape. Kill the head the body dies. That's science faction" He said with his lame pun.

"Great." She replied thankful of the plan. With a literal target on its head. Hope and Duncan went about trying to separate the head form the headless. "One head coming up." Which was a bit difficult than she expected since the monster fighting them at every turn.

Before when they were fighting it, it barley dodged or parried, mostly because it was impervious and unstoppable. Only when they targeted its Achilles heel did it become cautious, preventing them from easily accessing the head.

Until the monster had made a mistake in its defense against Duncan. It struck him propelling him forward as he dropped his axe. And she took the opportunity to exploit that weakness and was able to push it off with such tremendous it bounced of the wall and inadvertently dropped its head. As Duncan and the monster both recovered he was the quickest on the draw and able to reach the head before the monster could.

"Here." He shouted tossing the head back over his head. And tried to stop the advancing monster.

Hope was able to catch the head. And with its Achilles heel in hand she started to cast a destruction spell while Duncan held it back buying her time. He struggled against it but it had taken both of them to fight it of before. And since he was the only thing standing in between the monster and certain death. The monster retaliated by not just overpowering Duncan it had gotten its hands around his face.

And it snapped his neck.

"No!" She shouted as she completed the destruction spell a second too late. As two bodies fell to the ground.

For the second time that day Hope had been too slow and Duncan had paid the price. She tossed the head aside as she rushed over to his dead body.

"No, no, no, no." She kept repeating as she cradled his dead body.

Landon had rushed up the stairs and started to comfort her. In the same way that Landon didn't mean much to Duncan, Landon as well had no connection to Duncan. Other than him joining Hope to come rescue him. The two were by no stretch of the imagination friends, which is why he didn't grieve his death as she did.

Instead he offered solace to Hope. Placing a hand on her shoulder as she cradled Duncan. It was a familiar scene but the roles were reversed. This time it wasn't Landon's dead body she was cradling. Though she wished she was. Because Duncan was werewolf he wasn't a phoenix. He wasn't going to resurrect from a broken neck. He was dead. And they barely had time to mourn him.

"That seems to be the problem with mortality. It always seems to be so short lived." Clarke took their attention form their fallen ally drawing it to himself and the artifact he had in his hand.

Before anything else could happen he tossed the artifact into the pit.

"No!" Hope and Landon shouted in unison.

As the artifact disappeared into the pit. A violent reaction started taking place. Signaling the beginning of the rise of Malivore.

"Aren't you going to clap or something? That was a total power move." Clarke stated proudly at his accomplishment of dooming the world.

Landon's response was efficient and brutal. He grabbed the bone whip the monster had left and used it to latch on to Clarke's neck and snap it. Instantly killing him.

Hope realized she had underestimated his combat ability.

"Okay we got to think. We got figure out a way to keep him from rising." He said causing her a bit of confusion.

"What do you mean him?" She asked.

"Oh. We have a lot to catch up on." He told here as he began to give her the highlights of Malivore's origin story.

"Wow that's a lot to take in. So Malivore's your dad and he can't be killed."

"Weird huh." Landon expressed finally knowing about his own parents.

"Which is why triad turned him to goo." She continued.

"Quick study."

"But nothings ever immortal. I mean not really nature won't allow it." Her father proved that himself. "There is always a loophole." A white oak stake, a vulnerable head for the headless and a cure for the supposed immortal.

"Any brilliant Ideas? Because I think we're running out of time." He pointed at the rapidly volatile and rising pit that was his father.

She started to think of a solution to stop the rise. There had to be a loop hole. It was one of the founding principles of nature. She was alive right now because even cosmic mistake like her was a loophole. She born from an original hybrid father with witch blood in him and a werewolf mother. Making her part of all three. She was a living loophole.

She was the loophole. Malivore was created form the blood of a witch, werewolf and vampire. Used to be that they were the only ones who could destroy him. But nature found a loophole as it always did. By creating her. The tribird.

She could remember things about Malivore that nobody else could. Her blood healed Duncan after he had been shot by the Malivore bullets.

"I think I have one." She answered walking over to pick up Duncan's axe "I can kill him with this." She showed him the axe.

"He was alive for centuries I don't think a regular axe is going to cut it." Landon responded skeptical.

"It's not. You had all the asnwers. Malivore was created by the blood of a werewolf, a witch and a vampire. Used to be that only they could destroy what they created. But nature found a loophole, by making me. I'm the loophole. And I can use my blood to enchant a weapon that can kill him." She explained her plan.

"I think that could work." He said in relief.

She cut her he hand on the blade of the axe and placed her bleeding hand on top of the axe. As he dripping blood started to coat the axe she started her bind her blood to the weapon enchanting it.

She always thought that she was a cosmic mistake. Someone who should have never been born. She spent years torturing herself. Asking herself why her father sacrificed himself for her? It was for her to get to this point where she finally understood. After all of that time her purpose was finally clear.

She was Hope Andrea Mikaelson. As her uncle Elijah put it 'she was meant to be the hope of her family'. She was meant to be the destroyer of darkness.

"I hate to rush the process but my dad's on the rise." He nervously reminded her.

"I'm almost done." She told him continuing her enchantment "Dimentum Talos. Dox Toxem, Dox Malum. Dox Divinitum." She not only imbued the axe with her blood, but portion of her power as well. She had crafted a weapon that could kill the unkillable. A weapon to end Malivore once and for all "Done." She informed him.

"So how do we do it? Do we just chuck the axe into the pit or something?" He asked.

"Yeah basically." She replied overlooking the pit ready through the axe down at it.

"Sorry I was eavesdropping." Clarke stood up realigning his neck causing them to pause. "What are you waiting for?" he asked them making no moves to impede them.

"I assumed you were going to try and stop us." She answered as Landon grabbed the bone whip again. Ready to strike him dead if he made the wrong move.

"Hell no. I was only trying to raise my father because I was terrified of him. And I knew he'd find a way out some way, but if your actually right about your weapon. And it can actually kill the bastard once and for all. Be my guest. I'll be rooting for you." Clarke gleefully announced his treachery. Switching over from supporting antagonist to by stander.

Without his intervention, they proceeded as planned. While Landon guarded her with the bone whip Hope aimed the axe at Malivore's rising head and threw it.

As the axe hit malivore and was absorbed into the pit. Another violent and volatile reaction happened. The weapon was accomplishing its intended task. It was killing Malivore. The black goo of the pit started to rescind until there was nothing left but a crater were the once unkillable Malivore was erased form the world.

With the impending doom finally averted they no longer had any existential threat drawing their attention. Instead they had other things to attend to.

"He's gone." Landon informed Hope of Clarke's absence.

With no further distractions their attention was solely on their fallen comrade. Hope went about cradling his dead body again. She didn't mourn him as she did before when all she could think about was his death before all of the interruptions followed. But she mourned him nonetheless rocking his body as she cradled it.

"What do we do now?" Landon asked unsure of how to proceed.

"We go home. Before he wakes up." She explained.

"Hope he's a werewolf. They don't wake up from getting their necks snapped. He's dead." He informed him as though she was living in some kind of denial that Duncan was dead.

"He had my blood in his system." She explained further.

Before he had been killed by the headless monster. He had been shot by Malivore bullets. And she had used her blood to heal him. And when he died he her blood in his system. He had started to transition. He was going to be a hybrid.

* * *

 **AN:** And that is the end of the first season of the show with my OC, now we are jumping into the danger zone since I don't have anymore material to adapt.

From now on things will be going the route of an AU. Instead of jumping into a pit and sacrificing herself Hope came up with an alternative making her available for all the fall out of everything that has already taken place.

As always leave a review because I am interested in feedback.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** Undiscovered land through Hope's P.O.V.

* * *

There had been a lot of restructuring after the attack by Triad but a decision had been made. Despite the breach of trust by Dr. Saltzman none of them had lost faith in him. He was reinstated as headmaster by a unanimous decision by the honor council. Josie of course would have voted to keep her father and Dorian as acting representative of the honor council had voted to keep him.

Hope as well had gotten over her anger at him and voted for him to stay. She understood why he did what he did and didn't hold it against him. Neither did Kaleb nor Jed. Who had been acting as stand in werewolf representative while Raf was on his sabbatical in wolf form. Still reeling from the effects of lunar psychosis.

The school no longer faced any external threats. Malivore and Triad had been defeated but it had come at a price. One of them had died and was now in transition.

It was for that very reason Dr. Saltzman had called her into his office with Fiona.

"Duncan requires your blood to complete the transition. And with the current climate around us. I feel it is time for some disclosure. You see Duncan isn't an ordinary werewolf." Dr. Saltzman tried to explain, but Hope was already privy to that knowledge

"He's a Paxon. I know." She informed them.

"How?" Fiona asked.

"Irish werewolf with major anger issues, I put 2 and 2 together." She explained.

"Well then you already know terrible the optics are. Duncan has always been one of my most difficult students. What with his abhorrent dislike for authority and coupled with his family history of anger and violence. Once he transitions I am unsure of what traits of his will be magnified. So I'm asking for both of your assistance helping him through this period."

"Of course." Fiona agreed without hesitation nor reservation and turned towards Hope waiting for her answer, but she didn't wait long.

"Yeah." Hope also replied in agreement.

It's not like she had any other choice. Duncan died protecting her. He died so that they could put a stop to Malivore. She was going to help him in whatever way he need during his transition period.

Both girls had left Dr. Saltzman's office headed to the vamp cells were Duncan was being held momentarily. During the transition period. A person's sense were heightened to an unbearable degree. It was even worse for werewolves since they already had heightened senses.

Making Duncan more irritable than usual. It was for the safety of others that he was locked up until he could be feed her blood. Then Duncan wouldn't be afflicted by his own senses.

"He's not likely to accept becoming a hybrid easily." Fiona said as they were on their way "I know that you and Duncan have had your differences over the years but I need your help to persuade him to turn. I don't want to lose him." She explained.

Even thought they had broken up she imagined Fiona didn't want him dead.

"Yeah I'll do whatever it takes." Hope replied. Fiona wasn't the only one that didn't want to lose him. She had thought she was going to lose him when he got hit by the Malivore bullets. And she hated that feeling. It got even worse when he actual died protecting her. In that moment she had thought she lost him forever but luckily he had her blood in his system.

"Good, but I should warn you. It won't be a simple task. He'll try to lash out and hurt us in an effort to make us forsake him and let him die. Just know that his words are those of an angry little boy being too stubborn to do what is best for himself." Fiona explained "So whatever he says don't take it personally."

"I won't." She replied. Even if he did lash out she wouldn't give up on him.

So they made their way to him as a fortified front, whose only mission was to help him during the transition period.

* * *

They found him in the cells with his head buried in his knees.

"Go away." He told them before they entered the cells without raising his head from his knees.

"We're here to help." Fiona responded as they entered the cells

"Then go away." He responded without looking up at them.

"Gladly. After you feed." Fiona responded. It was the only reason they were there.

"I'm not going to do that." He replied still being stubborn

"If you don't you'll die." Fiona reminded him.

"I'm already dead." He responded nonchalantly raising his head to look at them.

"Dead for real this time Duncan. Like no coming back." Hope stepped in informing him. It was either feed or die. Vampirism was a loophole to death already and there was no loophole to a loophole.

"I am aware of the finality of death." He was just so cavalier about the whole thing.

And his indifference was starting to annoy Fiona.

"Then why are you being so stubborn?" Fiona she asked peeved.

"I've been prepared for death for a long time and I am ready to accept it." He answered

"Well I'm not." Fiona responded.

She wasn't the only one. Hope had lost enough people. She didn't want to add him to the list.

"It's not your choice." He reminded her.

And with that he had set her off. Her anger which she had been controlling was slowly starting to spill out. Hope could see it on her face.

"Well then here's your choice you can either feed or I'm going to force feed you myself." She threatened him.

"No you won't." He called her bluff. Meeting her aggravation with calm indifference. Which was pissing her off even more.

"You think I'm joking." Fiona said ready to go ballistic.

Her emotions were running high and Duncan's lack of response was aggravating her even more. She couldn't reason with Duncan with a show of force. He was stubborn and had to be persuaded, not forced into action. So Hope stepped in to mediate the situation.

"Okay let's all calm down for a bit. Your right it is your choice and no one is going to force feed you anything. But were not leaving until you take my blood." Hope stated.

"That's not going to happen and if you care about me you'd leave right now." He said looking over to Fiona "Before I have to sacrifice your memory of me before I die. You can make your peace with it and leave. Or I can tarnish everything and die with you hating me. The choice is yours." He threatened her.

"There's nothing you can say that will make me give up on you." Fiona responded to his threat.

"Last chance walk away." He continued to warn them, but they didn't make a move to leave.

They had come here to make sure he'd turn. They wouldn't be deterred by a couple of hurtful words.

"Well I tried." He said realizing they were calling his bluff "That day when the slugs were messing with my head and you kissed me. I kissed you back because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Even though we never broke up, we were going to anyway because I don't have feelings for you in that way anymore. We were better of as friends. I knew that when we kissed." He said dropping his bombshell.

It was a hard thing to hear finding out that you were in an unrequited relationship. And his words had stung Fiona and hurt her. Hope watched as the other girl processed that information. And it had shaken her but not her resolve.

"If that's all you think it takes for me to give up then you don't know me at all. I'm not going anywhere." Fiona stated fully convinced there was nothing more hurtful he could say.

"That's not all. I kissed Hope afterwards because I actually wanted to kiss her when I was infected by the slugs. And then when I came to my senses I slept with you because you weren't her." Duncan dropped the second the second bomb.

Hope didn't just feel the after effects of that information from empathetic pain. This one had actually affected her. She had never expected to keep Fiona in the dark about it forever. She hadn't told the other girl because even though it was her secret to tell, Fiona had to hear it from Duncan first.

So she wasn't mad that he told her. She was mad at the context. He said he was keeping the secret because he didn't want to come between them. But here he was now using it as ammo, to hurt the two girls.

And as many thoughts were floating through her head she imagined Fiona had it worse. As the other girl processed the information. Like before it had shaken her to her core, but this time it had also broken her.

"You are such an asshole." Fiona cursed at him walking away.

He had accomplished his goal and succeeded breaking her resolve. Now she was going to leave.

"Fiona wait." Hope called out to her as the other girl left "I hope you're proud of yourself." She chastised Duncan

"I did what I had to." He replied burying his head in what she hoped was shame.

"You pushed away people who were only trying to help you." She said before leaving him in the cell and chasing after Fiona.

Fiona had been on a mission to get as far away from either of them as possible. But Hope couldn't let her do that, not yet.

"Fiona wait up! We have to talk about what just happened." Hope said wanting to resolve their differences or at the very least postpone them until the convinced Duncan to feed.

Hope by herself didn't have much sway with Duncan. And the only reason he was trying so hard to push away Fiona was because she did.

"Is it true?" Fiona asked stopping in her tracks and turning around.

"About the kiss yes." She admitted "But about everything else that was just him trying to push you away." She explained to her.

Fiona was far too emotional hurt to see that. Hope knew she felt betrayed by both Duncan and her. Duncan was manipulating her

"We'll he succeeded." Fiona said turning away from Hope to try and walk away.

"Wait!" She tried to stop her.

"Leave me alone." She responded walking away. Still hurt by everything.

Hope knew her pain was nothing compared to what Fiona must have been feeling so she obliged her request of leaving her alone. She had a lot of time to try and earn Fiona's forgiveness.

But at the moment she was on a deadline for Duncan's life.

She didn't know how she was going to convince him without Fiona. But she'd be damned if she was going to let him die. And she was going to let him know he hadn't won. Not completely.

"That was a real dick move." She chastised him again. "But it didn't work. Because I'm still here."

"Not for long." He threw subtle threat. But it was actually a bluff.

"You're out of ammo Duncan. That was your big power play. And like the allied forces you are out of bombs. But I haven't surrendered. I'm going to go now and not because I'm giving up on you. Because I will be back. But In the meantime if you want to do the right thing, here." She pulled out a vile of her blood and put it on the floor.

She waited a moment to see if maybe he would take it, putting the choice all on his hands. But instead he buried his hand in his knees again.

The clock was ticking and she had 10 hours to make sure he drank her blood. But she wasn't going to be able to strong arm him. So she made the decision to give him some space.

Let him contemplate alone while the temptation stared him in the face. She hoped he would take it of his own volition.

* * *

As everyone went to their respective corners. Hope had gotten a free moment of respite from the seemingly never ending fires she had to put out. She had gone back to her room to take a shower. She had barley slept since yesterday, only taking a nap on the way back from Triad.

But Duncan wasn't the only fallout she had to deal with. Now thanks to him she also had to deal with Fiona. He was after all the root cause of the rift between the 2 roommates. Now she seemed to be avoiding their room, because even after the shower she hadn't returned so that they could actually talk about what had happened.

A knock came at her door and she turned around to see him.

Another fallout she had to deal with, with Duncan still being the root cause. But she wasn't completely innocent in the debacles. She was just as much to blame if not more than him.

"Hey."

"Hi."

They hadn't really had a chance to talk much since everything was happening. The cost of jumping from one crisis too another. The last time they had had an actual conversation was the night of the pageant. But even then they didn't talk much because her emotions were all over the place and she was failing to control them. So it wasn't the most productive conversation.

Since then they had she had only talked to his holographic projection made by her subconscious and that didn't count. Then they were fending of the attacks of Malivore and drove back in silence with Duncan's dead body.

Just one distraction after the next. But they were out of distractions.

"This kind of feels like déjà vu, you save me from Triad one day and ignore me the next." He said trying to break the ice with a humorous accusation.

She knew he meant it as a joke but all she could feel at that moment was guilt. And he could see it on her face.

"Oh. If this is about the whole secret with my mom. I forgive you Hope. I know your heart was in the right place. The reason I blew up on you was because part of me was angry that I never remembered her. Another part of me was angry that I hadn't earned your trust enough for you to tell anything." He said taking the blame.

But it wasn't his fault. It was hers and her insecurities. He shouldn't have to take the blame for her flaws.

"But now that everything is out in the open we finally have a long clear road ahead of us again." He said making a declaration for a future they wouldn't have.

He was being sweet, kind and vulnerable. All the things she loved about him. And it all made her shed a tear because she would have to hurt him when he was vulnerable.

"Are those tears of joy or something else?" He asked concerned and unsure of what was happening.

He didn't know the turmoil she was facing. It had been long decided that she was going to tell him the truth. She couldn't keep anymore secrets from him.

"Landon you mom wasn't the only secret I was keeping. Duncan and I kissed that day the slugs infected everybody."

"As in he kissed you or you kissed him?"

"Duncan kissed me when he was infected and I kissed him back when I wasn't." Her admission had hurt him.

"Why?" He asked the pain still fresh on his face.

"Because I'm in love with him." She admitted "I've been in love with him for a long time. But since I thought he'd never care about me back I tried to move on. Which is when I met you for the first time. And I want you to know you weren't some kind of consolation prize or distraction. You were the guy that won me over. Because you were thoughtful, compassionate, sweet and romantic. All the things that make you a great guy. Which is why I fell for you and will always care about you. But then when Duncan kissed me all of those feelings I thought I had moved on from came rushing back and I tried to deny them but they kept persisting. Until I couldn't hide from them anymore. And I'm sorry." She apologized.

She had been too weak to control her heart and everybody was getting hurt for it.

"Hey it's okay I told you that if you ever changed your mind about me. That I would only work that much harder to change it back. Because you may not be in love with me but I love you Hope Mikaelson" Landon made a sweeping declaration.

But he didn't understand it was over for them. Hope wasn't they type of girl to keep a guy on the sideline in case things didn't work out with the guy she really wanted. It was truly the end of their relationship. They couldn't go back. Even though she still cared about him she imagined she could barely be his friend. At least for the moment.

She had already shot the dog and now she had to bludgeon it to death. For his own good.

"I don't think we can come back from this. Maybe as friends but we need some time apart." She cut him loose. Some real time apart so that he could have a greater chance at moving on.

He saw he wouldn't be able to convince her at that moment so he obliged to give her space. But sitting in that room alone made her feel restless. And since she wasn't in the mood for talking about it she went to the one person who wouldn't ask about her and Landon.

* * *

She had been disappointed to come back 3 hours later and find that he didn't feed. She had given him time and space to make the choice. And she gave him more time as she waited outside of his cell.

His breath was labored. Even with her sense weaker than his she could still hear the water in the pipes of in the distance. It must have been like nails on a chalk board. And the smells must have been assaulting his nose. Along with a killer migraine he must have been in agony. And the cure to his suffering was staring him in the face and he didn't even seem tempted or contemplative. Just detached.

"The longer you wait the more you'll suffer." She informed him.

And as time went by it would only get worse until he feed. His usually tanned complexion was getting paler. He was almost pasty. Meaning he had at the most 4 hours left to feed.

"Then I'll suffer until I don't." He said detached from it all.

"How do you do that? Just stay so indifferent in the face of death."

This was the 2nd time he had been confronted by death in the past two days. First it was when he got shot by the malivore bullets and he was uncaring about his impending demise. Now it was while he was in transition and he was uncaring about his impending demise.

"I already told you I've been prepared for death for a long time."

"But you don't have to die not really. If you feed you can live forever."

"As a vampire." It was the first time that day he had shown any emotion.

Of course it would be contempt. Werewolves and vampires had been at war for over a millennia. Their hatred for each other ran deep. Even at the school which was supposed to be a breeding ground for tolerance the factions were always opposed.

"As a hybrid." She corrected him. Part vampire yes but also part werewolf.

"I'll be an abomination." His words were more spite laced than anything she had ever heard him say.

A true distaste of what he would become. All of his vitriol was encapsulated in that single word of 'abomination'. A word that triggered Hope.

"My father was a hybrid" She said in defense.

She knew her father wasn't the best case for her argument. Even though she loved him deeply she knew what he was. But there was another person that was a hybrid.

"And so was my mother. She died because people thought she was an abomination. And you are sharing in their bigoted ideologies. So be careful throwing around the word 'abomination' around me." She warned him. It was a sore spot for her and she'd take it all out on him if he pushed her.

"I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about myself. I'll be the abomination." He corrected her "I know what it is like to be a vampire. Everything is heightened anger becomes rage, sadness and grief become debilitating despair. I'm a Paxon I already have rage and then some. And I'm already no stranger to despair. I'd hate to think what those things would be like magnified. And all of my other terrible traits. I'm already a monster. By definition werewolves are monsters, we all have blood on our hands it's how we trigger the curse. And the bodies just keep piling up from there. I already have enough blood on my hands. I don't need a multiplier. So no I don't want to be a hybrid and I especially don't want to live forever. I've been looking forward to death as salvation for years." He had sounded like a man who had given life. With no hope for the future.

"How can you be so self-loathing that you would die for it?" She asked more concerned about him dying than he actually was.

"Because I have blood on my hands." He answered back.

"You killed someone you cared about when you triggered the curse?"

From experience she knew how traumatic triggering the curse was. And she had killed someone she barely knew. For him to hate himself so much that he would die for it as some weird penance it must have been someone he cared about.

"Sean." He answered

"How did it happen?" She asked, but she remembered who she was talking to. He had always been reluctant to talk about anything personal "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She said giving him an out.

"No it's fine. Sean was my best friend. We had been for years. He was the happy go lucky plucky underdog and I was the overly aggressive untriggered Paxon. Until one day Sean picked a fight with me over something stupid. I don't even remember what it was about. But he kept coming at me no matter what I did. Then I got so pissed I fought back, and tackled him to the ground hard. So hard that I cracked his skull. All I was trying to do was put him down I didn't mean to kill him. I'd later find out he was compelled to pick a fight with me and not to stop till I put him down for good. Finding that out didn't just magically take away all of the guilt. The person who compelled Sean knew what kind of monster I was. And he exploited it by showing me my true colors. It's best for the rest of the world if this monster dies, before he becomes even more of a monster." He said seemingly resigned to his fate.

It was hard to convince people that thought they were not monster and that they had something to live for. Especially when they gave up on themselves. Duncan truly didn't care if he lived or died. So she couldn't argue with him to live for himself. He had to live for others.

"You told me your greatest fear was the people you would hurt in the wake of your demise. What about them?"

"I already made my peace with them. Before I left I made sure that Raf would be taken care of. And while Fiona maybe pissed at me right now I also made sure she'd be okay after I die. She'll move on. I made sure to mitigate their loss." He said as a forgone conclusion. He was already talking about a world where he would already be dead.

He had a really short list of people who would actually be hurt by his death. In his 4 years he had successfully alienated the entire school apart from a few exceptions. Hope herself had been in the same boat until she started letting people in and the number of friends she had grew.

The only people he had were Fiona who he managed to push away and Raf who despite their relation had kept him at arm's length. And if he was to be believed he had already made his peace with them. But there was one person he forgot who would be hurt by his demise.

"What about me?" She asked "You may not realize it but I'm actually one of the people you'd hurt by dying."

"You shouldn't. Raf and Fiona were an unfortunate happenstance. You don't have to share in their misfortune." He dismissed her feelings to continue in his self-loathing.

"It's too late for that. Because I'm in love with you." She admitted. She had never planned on it. Her plan had been to let her feelings subside over time so that she could move on. But when faced with the prospect of his death she couldn't hide it "And if you care about me which we both know you do then you'll finish the transition." She said playing her trump card.

She didn't know how effective it would be. But she at least had to try. Maybe he'd care about her enough to do it. She at least hoped he did.

"I don't." He said trying to mimic his brand of indifference.

His words stung more than anything else. Even if they weren't true. It was just him trying to push her away.

"You do. Why else would you have kissed me? And before you try to brush it of as 'the slugs were controlling you'. They didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do. You kissed me because you had feelings for me." She shot back.

"It really doesn't matter anyway." He said brushing her off "I am a dead man walking and not for long." He reminded her. But this time he wasn't as cavalier as he had been before.

He was no longer indifferent to his death. Her words had actually gotten to him. There was actually sliver of reluctance.

She felt herself start to tear up. Barely holding them back. And he couldn't look her in the eyes any longer. Because it wasn't enough. He wasn't wavering. And she was out of ammo.

There was nothing else he could say to make her forsake him and there was nothing she could say or do to convince him to complete the transition. They were in a stalemate which worked to his favor. Because in less than 2 hours he would be dead.

"Well congratulations. You final get what you wanted. You get to die alone. Because I can't watch you die." She walked away still holding back the tears remembering all of those she had lost before.

And she was going to have to add him to the list because he was being self-loathing and stubborn. She hadn't given up on him, but he gave her no choice. Because he was really going to let himself die. Consequences be damned and the people he'd hurt doing it.

* * *

She had taken a walk to clear her head but she had failed because her mind was constantly in flux. With everything that had happened that day. It had been so exhausting that she didn't take out her problems on a gym bag or wolfing out. She just wanted to go back to her room and watch cut throat kitchen while trying to stop herself from crying.

When she got to her room she was confronted by a situation she had put in the back burner while she was dealing with Duncan. Fiona was there. She hadn't seen the other girl since Duncan told her about the kiss and she told Hope to leave her alone.

"You're leaving?" Hope asked seeing Fiona pack some clothes.

"Yes." She answered with her back to Hope as she continued packing.

"Shouldn't we talk about it first?" Hope asked.

Because she was in favor of truly confronting the root of the problem instead of avoiding it. Even though she didn't want her to leave she wouldn't stop her. But first they had to address the elephant in the room.

"There's nothing to talk about. You kissed Duncan and you kept it a secret from me. And before you try to justify the breach of trust I don't need any explanations." She stopped packing her bag and faced Hope.

Hope wasn't the only one with puffy eyes. But where she had regret Fiona had anger. And rightly so.

Even though she and Duncan weren't dating at the time Hope knew that Fiona had feelings for him. She had told Hope she hated him but Hope could still see she cared about him even though she didn't want to. And Hope had betrayed Fiona. She hadn't initiated the kiss but she did kiss him back which made her just as culpable.

The entire day all she felt was guilt. Duncan had died because she was too slow. Landon was heartbroken because she couldn't control her feelings. And now Fiona was moving out because she betrayed her.

"Before you think of me solely as the wronged I want you to know I have secrets of my own. I wasn't just assigned to be your roommate happenstance nor did I become your friend. It was all by my design." She confessed to Hope's surprise. "When I got here I learnt that you were the one person that Duncan wouldn't go near. So I chose to integrate myself into your life so that I could repel him. Unfortunately for my plan at the closes hint of reconciliation I threw caution to the wind and shacked up with him. So I am not some saint by any standard. But you are worse. I may have used you but I never betrayed your trust. And I was never a terrible friend." She said going back to packing.

Fiona's confession although disconcerting wasn't enough to fully enough to exonerate Hope of her guilt. Because even though it had started out as Fiona using her as a Duncan replant. Fiona had actually become a really close friend. One who had stuck with her through thick and thin over the past couple of months. From fighting monsters, to being there for her when she was falling out with Landon.

"This can wait till tomorrow. We both just lost him tonight." Hope offered.

She had been a terrible friend to Fiona. But they both needed each other that night. Apart from Raf they were the only ones that were truly affected by Duncan's passing. And she didn't want Fiona to be alone deal with it by herself. She at least had to try to be a better friend and try to make it up to her.

"No we didn't" She bitterly scoffed "And he chose you over me. The girl who barely knows him vs the girl who has known him his entire life." Fiona turned around to face her again "He cares a lot about you. More than he does me. And all of that still isn't enough. I hoped it wouldn't come to that. That maybe he'd chose his feelings for me over his need for vengeance or at the very least chose his feelings for you over it. Because at least then he wouldn't be on a self-destructive path that ended up in his death. But that's not drives him. He's not dying today. Not when he has a chance to gain the power to exact his revenge. He's going to complete the transition and try to use his new abilities to go fight in a war that might end up with him getting killed. It's why he pushed us away today. Because even if he wasn't going die today he was still going to get himself killed." She explained to Hope's surprise.

Hope had forgotten how little she actually knew about Duncan. Then she also remembered all of those times he was cryptic about his death and how he had always talked about leaving the school to go take care of some business in Ireland.

Since Fiona knew him better she took her at her word. And part of her just wanted to believe in the fairy tale that Duncan had completed the transition and was going to live. But if Fiona was to be believed then he wouldn't stay alive for that much longer.

"Then shouldn't we try to stop him?" She asked. Hoping that they would actually have to stop him instead of preparing for his funeral.

"Already did." Fiona answered "He may not care about us enough no to go on his crusade but unfortunately for him I still care enough not to let him get himself killed. Which is why I spent the entire day placing a boundary spell around the school that will keep him from leaving it. I imagine that right about now he has realized he's trapped here."

* * *

 **AN:** This is the first chapter I've done that could considered original content without following the plot threads of the show. Going forward Malivore has been defeated and there is no foreseeable big bad. It will be more of a character driven story than plot driven one.

I've already completed a couple of chapters and will release the next chapter by Wednesday.

As always thank you fro checking out my story.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:** This is going to be a long melodramatic ride told through the trio's P.O.V.

* * *

The bunkers were empty apart from him. They were usually only in use on full moons when the wolves turned. They were using them now because they were the most fortified containment facilities at the school. They couldn't use the vamp cells which were great at keeping weakened baby vamps at bay but not that great at containing a hybrid.

His stay there was indefinite. It would either be decided by Dr. Saltzman or the honor council. Until then he was stuck there foreseeable future. With a craving for blood and a murderous rage. With no outlet for either because they had locked him up and were drying him out.

The silence was giving him a chance to contemplate. And the more he thought the angrier he got. His mind was trying channel all of that rage into a plan. But he was being disturbed by the smell of blood. It turned his craving into a burning desire for it.

"I hear you tried to burn down the school?" A voice he hadn't heard in long time asked as she threw a blood bag into his bunker.

It was a Salvatore School blood bag. Everyone knew it wasn't human blood. Though they weren't sure what animal it was. Some say it was squirrel blood, others say its bunny blood. It didn't really matter what animal it was. It wasn't the blood he had a craving for. So he didn't bother touching it. No matter how hungry he was.

"I didn't expect news of my death to reach you so quickly." He said changing the subject to postpone a lecture on his anger issues.

His death had only occurred less than 48 hours ago. She wouldn't have been able to drop everything to come see him. It would have taken time for her to mobilize. At least a couple of days for her to make sure things would be functional in her absence.

"I'm actually not here about you. Your untimely death was just an unexpected and unwanted motivation to be here. It seems there is another one of us running around. But for some odd reason I was made aware of his existence a couple of days ago. While you've been aware of it for a couple of months." She said irritated by his lack of communication.

"I would have told you but… we don't talk." He replied in his defense. And a guilt trip was always a good defense.

"Oh spare me the indignation little brother. I've been preoccupied." She nonchalantly said as her excuse.

"For 4 years." He said throwing it in her face. It felt good to be on the other side of that line for once. She had ignored him ever since she exiled him, except for the annual birthday card.

"Yes. A war is time consuming. And it seems in that time you've gotten the accent of a Yankee." She said taking note of his American accent.

He had lost his brogue years ago. It made his cover story more believable.

"I thought a werewolf with an Irish accent would draw too much attention. Especially one claiming to be from New Mexico." He explained.

Duncan Walsh was Paxon royalty. But Duncan Grayson was born and raised in Albuquerque New Mexico. The heir of a rather wealthy and private family. Which is why it was hard to find any information on his relatives and by extension his past other than he was from Albuquerque where Jeremy found him. And with that only thread it was hard to disprove his cover story. The only complication that had arisen was the introduction of Fiona, but he would have easily explained it away as visiting Ireland as a kid on his family's business dealings.

"Smart. Now how have you been little brother?" She asked trying to set him up. Part of her was actually concerned with him, but he knew that another part of her just wanted to lecture. Like the good old days.

"It depends on who you ask. Jeremy, Dr Saltzman and Miss Tig think I have unhealthy coping mechanisms. But if you ask me I'm doing quite fine." He answered slightly jovial despite his current predicament.

"Yes I can see. Threatening to burn down a school I pay so much money for you to attend. And then getting locked up like a convict. It's good to know that I raised you right." She said sarcastically. But there was little humor in her statement.

The conversation had taken a turn from good-humored banter to morbid dialogue. Because he knew how much pain she felt over it. She thought she failed to raise him right. She thought she failed him. But she didn't. He failed her.

"You did your best." He tried to give her some comfort.

"I wish it were enough." She softly lamented.

It was tearing him apart on the inside. The shame and guilt he had was unbearable. He was the lost cause and there was nothing she could do to save him.

"Now I have to go make sure I do enough for the other one." She said going off to focus her attention on someone that could be saved.

Despite the hardships he had growing up Raf was better man than he was. Even if at the moment he was struggling with some demons. Deep down he was a good person. His salvation didn't end in destruction. While Duncan despite growing up in a good home was doing his best to make sure that's how his story ended. Some people were born broken.

* * *

The honor council was built on the idea of letting the students decide their own future. Each faction had a seat on the council to represent their faction's interest. Added with a faculty administrator who represented the lower grades. For the moment that seat was unoccupied while the school was still restructuring.

Josie represented the witches. Kaleb represented the vampires. Jed as interim alpha represented the wolves. And Hope represented herself. The only one of her kind.

"We're here to discuss what we should do about Duncan. He's everyone's problem. But we have to figure out whose responsibility he is." Kaleb called the meeting to order.

Duncan as a hybrid stood at a cross roads. A murky grey area were nobody knew exactly which faction he belonged to. He was born a werewolf which made him fall under the jurisdiction of werewolves. But he was turned into a vampire making him also fall under the jurisdiction of vampires. Then there was the whole thing about him being the only one of his kind.

She had sired other hybrids before, but they had all been killed by the purist vampires. Duncan was the only hybrid she had left.

It also made him fall under her jurisdiction since he was a hybrid and she was a tribrid. They had more in common than the other factions. And she was also starting to be the representative of team other which was why they were all probably going to make her responsible for him. But he wouldn't want that. Duncan had always been rogue state with no oversight.

"It really doesn't matter. Duncan has always been about non-interventionism. If we don't infringe on him then he won't be a problem. So I say we don't bother him." Josie advised. She was the only one who didn't exactly have skin in the game since Duncan was eligible for her faction. But she also knew better then to poke a bear.

"That really doesn't fly when he tried to burn down the school." Kaleb replied.

He didn't actually try to burn down the school. He just threatened to if Fiona didn't lower the boundary spell she put on him. To say he was livid would've been an understatement. The spell was tied to Fiona's life and even with a berserker like rage Duncan wouldn't have hurt Fiona. So he threatened the school instead. Hope had been unsure if he was bluffing or would have actually done. She and Fiona weren't going to risk it and put him down before he had chance to follow through.

"He had just completed the transition and his emotions were heightened. And Duncan was never a ray of sunshine before." She said coming to his defense. "Once he's done with the transition period he'll be back to normal. And will stay out of everyone's way. So I agree with Josie we do nothing."

"What if he decided to go on a rampage? He's done it before. Now he has the power to be a threat to everyone." Jed warned.

Jed had always been sacred of Duncan even more so now that he was a hybrid. Duncan had always been the sole lone wolf of the school because there was nothing the other wolves could do to him. Everyone knew the only reason why Jed and his predecessors were alpha was because Duncan allowed it. He was far stronger than any of them. She had only realized recently it was because he was a Paxon. It was also why Raf had one.

She didn't tell them any of that. Their fears were already stoked to high. Finding out Duncan was a Paxon turned hybrid would be cause for great concern. Because now he wasn't only stronger than the rest of the wolves he was also stronger than the rest of the vampires. There was little much either Kaleb or Jed could do about Duncan.

"If he gets out of control I'll use the sire bond on him and stop him. But only as a last resort." She knew better than to abuse the sire bond. "Other than that we just let him go about his business." She said unofficial taking responsibility for him.

Duncan would continue to be a rogue state but she would act as his oversight. Since she was the only one that could do anything about him.

So they all voted on doing nothing about Duncan. They would keep him in the bunker for 2 weeks while he finished his transition period. After that he was free to do whatever he wanted except leave the school. That was a decision Fiona would make.

* * *

Once the meeting was done she was called into the headmaster office. She wanted to go to the bunkers and see him but bureaucracy called.

When she walked into his office where she found Dr. Saltzman talking with a stranger. She realized she had barged in instead of knocking. Something she had gotten accustomed to but it wasn't proper protocol.

"I'm sorry I see you're busy. I can comeback." She said not wanting to interrupt their meeting.

""No it's fine. Come on in." He said calling her in "Hope Mikaelson this is Contessa Walsh." He introduced her to the mystery woman.

She was tall, standing in at 5"9. With straight long jet black hair and dark brown eyes. In her mid-thirties. There was an air of nobility and regality to her. From the way she stood from her chair and her posture as she extended a hand towards Hope.

"Please call me Tess." She said in an Irish accent as Hope shook her hand.

"Wait as in Walsh like the Paxons?" She asked noting the Irish accent and the last name Walsh.

"Yes." She answered.

Surprising Hope for a bit. Because now there were 3 Paxons in the radius of the school. An alarming sign for most people. But what concerned her most was that she had been a part of the death of one of them and responsible for turning him into a hybrid. A guilt washed over her as she had to now answer to Duncan's mother.

"Well it seems that there is a lot for you two to discuss. I'll leave you to it." Dr. Saltzman responded taking his leave.

He was going to hang her out to dry as she dealt with the ramifications of her actions.

"Mrs. Walsh if this is about Duncan. I want you to know I am so sorry about what happened with him." She apologized first.

She took full responsibility for what had happened. She had put Duncan in a situation where she dragged him along to go save Landon. And she had been too slow in destroying the head of the monster before it killed him while he was buying her time.

"Relax. My little brother was always going to get himself killed on way or another." She nonchalantly brushed her guilt away "At least this way he can live long enough to be a pain in the ass to the rest of the world. But I'm not actually here for him. I'm here for my nephew. I hear you've been trying to help him deal with lunar psychosis by allowing him to turn into a wolf. And I want to thank you for helping him out. But I'd also like to have a word with him." She asked Hope. Since she was the only one that could turn him back.

"Of course I'll go and bring him back to human form." She had hoped to avoid turning Raf back while he was on his sabbatical. It was why she hadn't done it for the council meetings.

Tess seemed like a good person. A good break from the mold of the typical Paxon. She better than anyone would be able to help out Raf. It was a good idea for them to meet up. It wasn't like he was going to get that kind of help from his uncle anytime soon. And Duncan wasn't exactly a good role model for a Paxon.

"Thank you. And I'd also like to express my condolences for your loss. Your mother was well regarded. Even among Paxon circles. She'll be dearly missed." She said talking about her mother as though they were acquainted.

"You knew my mother?" She asked.

"Yes. I knew you as well. Years ago after the original fall of the Mikaelsons. Your mother traveled to Ireland in hopes of finding a Paxon and getting their venom to cure the rest of your family. As alpha and a direct descendant I provided it to her." She explained.

"Why?" She asked.

Her family was the most hated family in history. And they had earned that reputation over a hundred lifetimes. With many enemies and few allies. Especially among the wolves. Most people would go out of their way not to help them.

"It was an act of faith to forge new alliances. Helping her out was the first step in rebranding the Paxons from isolationist and warmongers. And she was a woman desperate to help her family. And that was something we shared in common so I helped her out. In the same vein that her daughter is helping me out. Your mother would be proud of you. And I am glad you were able to help at least one member of my family." Tess thanked her again.

It had been Hope's intention to help both of them. But where Raf accepted her help Duncan rejected it.

* * *

After less than two days in wolf form Raf was doing better. He wasn't exactly healed. But there was a stillness in his mind. It felt less fractured.

He had originally turned to help defend the school and he had stayed in wolf form to fix himself and heal. Taking the advice of both Duncan and Hope. But just because he was healing didn't mean the world had stopped. A lot had happened had happened in two days.

But the dealings of the school weren't why Hope had turned him back. It had been time for a family reunion.

He walked in to the barn to find her with her back turned. All he could see was long black hair flowing down her black coat. She seemed to be snooping. Usually the barn was of limits everybody except for Raf. Duncan had recently given him free reign of his castle and he assumed it extended to his sister. Raf's aunt. The woman who had killed his father.

"As a children my brothers always had this natural aptitude for carpentry. Mixed with their propensity for distrust and need to keep secrets. They always found a way to make secret compartments." She said in an Irish accent knocking on the wall to hear an echo "I wonder if you inherited that from your father?" She asked him as she started revealing the secret compartment were Duncan hid his liquor.

"I was always more of a mechanic." He answered back. He did his best work with his hands. And he worked a lot on cars.

"Mechanic. That's a good trade. Is that what you want to be when you grow up?" She asked turning around to face him for the first time.

"I don't know." He answered.

He didn't know what his future held. He didn't know what he was going to do when he graduated the next year. Before everything with Cassie their plan had been to go to UVA since he would likely get a track scholarship there. But with her gone he was left in the wind.

"Well you're young you have all the time in the world to figure that out. Would you like a drink Rafael?" She asked pouring one for herself.

He was hesitant to drink in front of an adult.

"It's not a trap by the way. You can choose to have one or not. Either way no judgment from me." She assured him.

"It's best I don't drink in my state." He explained, even though he was feeling better he was far from fine.

"Of course. How are you by the way? With the lunar psychosis aftermath."

"I'm doing a lot better now after spending time in wolf form. Like my brain was slowly repairing itself when I was a wolf." He explained leaving out the part where the longer he stayed out of wolf form the more he felt himself slip back to that chaotic state.

"That's good to hear. Now I assume you have questions but before I answer them I'd like to know what you know. Duncan was never the most liberal person with information, but I assumed he has told you a bit about our family history. I'm wondering what he told you." She asked taking a sip of her glass.

"He told me my father was a Paxon. He said he was the worst of them. A genocidal warmonger. A dog so mad that you had to kill him." He explained to her. He wasn't judging or condeming her for killing his father.

"Yes he was and I did." She admitted "But Brenden wasn't born that way. Despite what he would later become in life he had been a kind and sweet child. The only times he had shown anger was when he was being overprotective of his little sister. Other than that he was just like any other child. Until my father beat it out of him in an effort to make him stronger." She explained.

Raf had already written his biological father off as monster. From the way Duncan put it there were just some people that were born evil.

"He forged him into a weapon that was proficient in the use of our clan's greatest curse his warrior's madness. A walking weapon of mass destruction my father would unleash upon his enemies. By the time he had reached his late teens that little boy had long died and been replaced by a walking avatar of rage and destruction. Our father in an effort to create a foothold in America where our pack would relocate sent us as emissary. I was sent to New Mexico with a contingent of our pack and he was sent to Texas with the others. While negotiating territory with the local wolves my brother's contingent was confronted by the Malraux Pack. They hadn't been as strong as they had been in the past but they were one of the original 7. And that still meant something, but not to Brenden. With his small contingent he led a raid against the entire Malraux Pack. He was so effective that the pack broke a part and members were forced to regroup elsewhere. But Brenden picked them off one by one to the point where there were almost no survivors. Now understand with over a millennia of fighting each other long before even vampires existed. There had always been a code amongst the original 7. No matter how brutal the war against each other one of the 7 would never be eradicated. And my brother broke that code which made my father angry. But he had set him on his path. Which would end with him getting killed and me mercy killing Brenden." She explained further.

Raf felt like less of a person being born from such a monster capable of such atrocities. When Duncan had explained it he had used broad strokes and deliberate language that Raf understood that his father was a monster. Duncan had explained him as a rabid dog, but the way Tess was explaining it, it was like he was tactical war criminal which made it all the more worse.

"I don't blame him for what he became because he didn't have a choice. Even after all he had done I still loved my brother. And had I known he had fathered a child. I would have made sure that child grew up in a good home."

"It has a hard road but I made it out okay." He explained trying to comfort her.

She may have killed his father but it wasn't her fault he was in foster care. And since he didn't know anything about his mother other than she hooked up with a genocidal maniac and gave him up to foster. It was probably best he didn't grow up with her either.

"I can see that. But you and I were family. And I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you for all the times I wasn't there for you. Starting by helping you with your lunar psychosis." She said making a sweeping declaration.

* * *

Without any more distractions she went to the bunkers. She hadn't had a chance to talk with him since she left thinking he was going to let himself die. Then it was putting a stop to him before he had a chance to burn down the school.

Now that everything was taken care of she wanted answers.

"The council has decided your punishment will be 2 weeks in here." She informed him as she looked at him inside the bunker.

He had his head buried in his knees as he had the day before. Back then it was different times. She was concerned with him and trying to reason with him to complete the transition.

"I assumed so." He replied without taking his head out of his knees.

"Would you have done it?" She asked "If we didn't stop you would you have burnt down the school or was all that bluster."

"Yes." He bluntly stated. And he wasn't lying he actually would've done it. Which disappointed Hope. He had already disappointed her the other day, but it was starting to seem like every action he did was meant to disappoint her.

"Your sister seems like a good person. Why aren't you?" She asked. Part of her had been willing to forgive his transgression on the count of his heritage. She didn't know how he was raised. But she had suspected it must have been bad considering he was a Paxon. But so was his sister and the both of them were probably raised in the same home. But she was good person.

Bringing up his sister made him raise his face from his knees.

"Sometimes it's not about how you were raised. It's about who you are." He answered.

And she wondered who he was. Her first questions and his answers to them were disappointing but there was question she wanted to ask above all else. It was the most important question because it would tell him exactly what kind of person he was.

"When did you know? When did you know you were going to complete the transition?" She asked.

She had been worried sick about him the entire day, the day before. Worried that he wouldn't do it and let himself die. She had begged and pleaded with him. Even told him she loved him. As she begged him to turn for her. But he had refused her. And let her think he was going to die.

"The moment I woke up." He admitted.

"And you spent an entire day trying to convince me you were going to die?" She had felt more betrayed now than she had been the day before because after everything she told him he still lied to her. And premeditatedly broke her heart.

She had held out hope that maybe it had been in his final moments when he came to the conclusion to choose life over death.

"Yes." He responded.

"Why?" She asked irritated by his callousness.

"Because either way I was a dead man walking. I was just trying to save you all the pain of having to deal with my death twice."

"What is with you and your death wish? Everyone keeps talking about you getting killed one way another."

Fiona had talked about it the night before. It was why she had put the boundary spell. Tess knew it as well. And Duncan himself had been leaving hints about his impending demise

"What are going to do that will get you killed?" She asked.

"I'm going to kill Demarcus. He's an ancient vampire with a legion of other vampires." He further explained.

And that was a sure fire way to end up dead.

"Even as hybrid you can't walk out alive from those odds. Are you really so vindictive that you'll get yourself killed for it?" She asked hoping he'd realize how misguided he was. No vengeance was worth dying over.

"Yes." He answered disappointing her.

"Why is this so important to you?" She asked. Wanting to understand him. What could drive a man to seek his own before he had ever begun to live?

"Growing up my favorite superhero was Superman. So was Sean's. He liked the post crisis and pre new 52 versions of the character. And it wasn't the fact that Superman was all powerful that drew Sean to him. It was the fact that Superman stayed infallible in spite of it. Superman was brave, courageous and a kind-hearted hero with a strong sense of justice, morality and righteousness. He was a paragon of virtue that inspired hope in people. That was the version of the character that Sean loved the most because that was the character that resonated with him the most and the one he wanted to emulate. Sean was a good kid with a bright future ahead of him whose only sin was befriending me. And he was robbed of the chance to do good in the world because he was collateral damage in Demarcus' plans for war. Demarcus robbed him of his free will and made him pick a fight with me until he was dead. All so I could retaliate in my pursuit for vengeance. And he could use that as justification to go to war with my pack. And I did just as he had planned but what he failed to take into account how much danger a Paxon even one on its first transformation would cause. On the night of the full moon I stormed his compound and massacred everything in sight. But he wasn't there. He escaped and lived to fight another day. Raised and entire army and has been waging war for years. All because I failed to get the job done the first night when I had the element of surprise. Now I have to finish what I started. I am going to kill him and it doesn't matter who I have to hurt to do it." He explained with full conviction in achieving his goals consequences be damned.

Hope could see snippets of the anger he held and how much it was blinding him. But for a person who claimed to idolize superman their virtues didn't align

"That doesn't sound like something superman would do?" Hope wasn't the biggest comic book fan but even she knew Superman was a savior not a destroyer. He wouldn't do things intentional that would hurt other people.

"The big blue boy scout was Sean's favorite version of the superman character. Mine was the bastardized version. The superman from the injustice story. The one who had lost Lois Lane by the Jokers cruel machinations. And the one that killed the joker in retaliation. He made it his mission to bring order and justice to the world no matter the means and the sacrifices he had to make. All in the name of justice. I want to do the same. And there can be no justice while Demarcus breaths and continues his days with impunity. If I have to die to make sure that bastard comes with me then I will gladly do it." He explained further.

He let her take a peek into his mind. He made her understand a part of him. And there was no end to his hatred. He was expendable in his own vision.

A part of Hope could sympathize with his need for vengeance that he propped up as justice. He was fully convinced it would take his life to achieve it and he was truly willing to give it up. She didn't begrudge him his vengeance the only problem she had with it was that he would die doing it. She didn't want to lose him. And she didn't know of a way to dissuade him from his goal.

"Why did I just tell you that?" He asked confused. The wheels had turned in his head and he had gone from full conviction in his own demise to bewilderment at revealing his deepest desire to her.

She was so entranced by his openness that she forgot he was not an open person. Duncan had never been liberal with information especially the personal. It was why 4 years later he was still mostly a mystery to her. After all of that time she could only describe him in broad strokes. Never truly knowing him or what made him tick.

"It's the sire bond. I didn't meant to use it." She explained. It had never been her intention to use the sire bond on him. It was just something that happened inadvertently when they were talking.

It lead to him telling her a very personal story and giving her a peek at his inner workings. Something he never would have done had he not been sired. She had essentially taken away his free will and forced him to divulge the information.

Even if it was a mistake. It was an abuse of power and betrayal. And Hope felt guilty over it. Her guilt worsened when she saw the fear in his eyes.

"Leave." He said hurt by her abuse of power.

"Duncan I'm sorry." She apologized. She could only imagine how violated he felt. The most private person she had ever know. Forced to be vulnerable by an unintentional link.

She had seen it all in his face. The confusion had turned into fear and hurt which had now turned into anger.

"I said leave!" He shouted her with his eyes glowing yellow and veins following up his eye. It caused her to back up even though the cells of the bunker kept them apart.

She wanted to apologies even more and make a promise to never do it again. But she didn't get a chance. When he realized she wasn't going. His bones started breaking.

"Now!" He shouted again as his bones kept breaking. He was trying to turn into his wolf form intentionally.

He was hurting himself to block her out. And even though she could have stopped him by using the sire bond she didn't want to infringe on his free will again. She had already hurt him doing it the first time. So she walked away ashamed. To save him some pain and grief.

* * *

Tess was teaching him to slow his mind down. She said it was a process. First he would learn to slow his mind down and concentrate. Then they move on to processing his emotions instead of blocking them or pushing them away. Then he would finally learn control for his emotions and himself. But a week had passed and he hadn't gotten through the slowing down his mind part.

She had guided his meditation telling him to picture a tortoise walking across the desert. To focus on the movement of its legs as it slowly moved through the desolate planes. In Raf's mind the whole meditation enlighten thing was just corny. But he had kept with it because it had helped stabilize his mind tremendously when he was in human form.

So he knew it was all bad but he was getting frustrated that he couldn't keep that concentration going for more than a minute. He grunted in frustration as broke his concentration for what felt like the 100th time. He couldn't do it anymore.

He opened eyes to see Tess's where still closed and she was calm and serene.

"As I said it is a process Rafael the most important thing you can do is not to give up." She said encouraging him to try again, never once opening her eyes.

She always seemed to have a 6th sense to know when he was giving up and all she had to do was ask him to keep trying and he would. So he went back at it.

"How are you so good at this?" He asked while he was trying to get his rhythm back. It wasn't an easy state to jump in and out of when you were trying to focus on something for more than a minute.

"It's imperative that someone like me keeps a cool head. The best way to prove the stereotypes that people have of us wrong is to not feed into them. So I have learnt to temper my more radical emotions with meditation and tranquility. A lesson that is also imperative for you to also learn. Because you carry the same burden as I. We may be descended from a long line of lost causes but our choice are our own, we don't have to be them." She assured him.

"Duncan said the same thing."

"It's a shame he's never lived up to it." She said disappointed.

Over the week they hadn't really talked much about Duncan. But she had practically raised him and there was a lot between the two because of it.

"What's the deal with him anyway?" He asked.

"He suffers from the same problem that vexed your father. You see the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down for warmth. Your father was denied that warmth by our father and most people. So he received his warmth from the bodies he piled up. Duncan was never denied that warmth because I ensured that he would always have it. There was a time he had it in excess when he was with Sean and Fiona. But once Sean had died he chose to reject the warmth we gave him and find it elsewhere following the footsteps of his brother. And over the years slowly venturing in to the territory of lost cause despite the advantages he had been given growing up. He was given the choice and for the most part he has chosen wrong. It is the same choice I will try to afford you by giving you a chance to become whoever you want to be. But as off now all you need to be is a man trying to get his life back together. First by slowing down and focusing." She said going back to their meditation.

* * *

2 weeks had passed since everything. And because of everything that had happened she had gone back to her anti-social self. Spending most of her time alone in her room. Fiona hadn't spoken to her since that night. She was avoiding Landon and by extension the boys from the super squad because she had broken up with him and he needed them more than she did. Josie and Lizzie were still dealing with their own things. Leaving her alone and since things were relatively quiet without the constant monster attacks there was very little she could do.

The only time she got out of her room a part from going to class and fight training. Was when she turned Raf back. Everyday she'd turn him back from his wolf so that he could talk with Tess. He was splitting time between his wolf form to heal and his human form not to completely lose himself.

Now she was out of her room with a different purpose. She hadn't been back to the bunkers since he told her to leave. She had respected his wishes in order to save him more pain. But he had continued to turn. Over and over again for the last week.

It was the only way the sire bond could be broken. And he was determined to do so.

She walked in expecting to hear screams of pain as he turned. But the bunkers were deathly silent. She found him with his head buried in his knees again.

"Your time is up. You free to go." She informed him unlocking the bunker door.

It could have been anyone that let him out. But she had been pseudo-responsible for him. But above all else she wanted to see him.

"11 days. 116 hours. 156 transformation. That's how long it took for the pain to stop." He informed her disappointed by the fact that he had achieved his goal.

The sire bond was built on gratitude for not having to turn. It was why the only way to break it was to turn until it stopped hurting. Until he stopped feeling grateful for the gift of not turning.

"You don't sound relieved that you broke the sire bond." She asked noting his disappointment.

Despite succeeding in that endeavor he didn't seem happy about it. There was a sense of dissatisfaction towards the sacrifice he had made toward breaking the bond.

"I didn't." He answered.

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"I didn't break it. I can still feel it. The need for your approval and acceptance. All magnified by your presence." He explained.

That didn't make sense to her. The sire bond wasn't a complicated thing to break. It was hard to break but not complicated. Simply turn until the pain stopped then it was all over. And he had done that already. Unless there was something more. Something more complicated in nature. Because rather than it just being a sire bond between a hybrid and its sire it was the bond between a vampire and its sire. A bond that wasn't built on gratitude but something else. Something more complicated.

And judging by how afflicted he seemed he knew it too.

"It's because you're in love with me too." She said what they both knew but he wouldn't admit.

"It doesn't matter." He said trying to brush it off.

"Clearly it does." She could see how torn up about it he was.

Being in love with someone wasn't something someone could simply just brush off. If it was she would've done it. And he couldn't do it either. Not when his feelings were strong enough to garner a sire bond.

"No it doesn't. It never has." He said trying to act like he didn't care

It was like he was trying to brush it off. Like he couldn't admit it even now.

"How can you say that?"

"Because the entire purpose of my being is to destroy Demarcus. Every action I have taken over the past 4 years has been in service to that goal. Whether or not it brings destruction to myself or absolution. And the action will most likely bring me the latter. Nonetheless it will not be agreeable to those that care for me. It is why I can't return the favor and care about anything or anyone else. So my feelings for you are irrelevant. I've had them before and I've gotten over them before. Because I won't let them get in the way or distract me from achieving my goal." He said trying so hard to mimic his usual conviction and determination.

He probably didn't realize but he admitted he had had feeling for her long before. Their feelings were mutual but he didn't let them stop him from pushing her away. He was even trying to do it now.

She wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more her or himself. And he was failing all the same. Because he didn't have his absolute belief. There had been a time when he was willing to risk it all. Then he had become reluctant in the pursuit of his goal. Now he was more conflicted than ever.

Which made part of her happy to see he wasn't dead set on getting himself killed. But it also sadden her to see him suffer at his own hands.

His feelings for her may have been strong enough to garner a sire bond. But his need for vengeance was able to contend with it. It was why he was at war with himself.

She looked at him and could see it all. He broke their gaze and walked away exercising his new found freedom. She didn't have to worry about him running of he was still a prisoner of the school under Fiona's boundary spell. So she didn't stop him when he walked away. And she was unsure of what to do or say to him.

* * *

She had always felt like a cosmic mistake until she had been able to figure out that her supernatural destiny had been to be the bane of Malivore. Now that she had discovered and achieved her purpose she was now in charge of her own destiny. But she was stuck in limbo without a clear path forward. Essential a bystander because she had no idea what to do with Duncan.

The melancholy and gloom set out all through her body. A foreboding feeling because even though Duncan was at war with himself she feared the victor of that war would be his darkness that seemed infinite. And the only thing she could do to stop it was a violation to heinous for her to stomach.

A knock came at her door bringing her out of her somber musings. She opened it to find Tess which in itself wasn't that all weird seeing as she had been coming to Hope for 2 weeks. The weird part was that it was still in the late afternoon.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'll go grab Raf." She apologized. It must have slipped her mind that day when she had been dealing with Duncan.

"No it's okay. I'm actually not here about him. I'm here to thank you before I leave." Tess replied

"You're leaving?" She asked.

"Yes there still somethings I need to attend to back home." Tess explained

"What about Raf?" She asked.

There wasn't much anyone other than Tess could do to help him. Emma had tried and failed through no fault of her own. And what Tess had been able to do in 2 weeks was tremendous but it wasn't enough since Raf still had to go back into wolf form.

"I've done the best I can for him by giving him the tools he needs to go through the process alone. But he won't need to go at it alone with friends like you. Which is why I came here to thank you again for everything you've done to try and help my family." She thanked her.

But Hope still felt like a failure on that front.

"I couldn't help them all." She lamented.

She had been unable to help Duncan which was why she felt like she was stuck in limbo with him.

"Yes my brother is bit of a tricky one. I hear he succeeded in breaking the sire bond."

"He didn't." She informed her. Which surprised Tess as she processed that small bit of information.

"I'm sorry I heard he was sulk around the woods contributing to deforestation instead of keeping himself locked up and turning. I didn't believe my brother would do that with you holding a proverbial sword of Damocles over his head. He more likely would have done everything in his power to break the bond." Tess explained.

"He did." She replied "But he can't break the bond." She further explained vaguely.

She could see the wheels turn in Tess's head and she pondered that information.

"Because he has feelings for you." Tess stated which made Hope blush.

There were fewer things in life more awkward than talking to the sister of the guy you had feelings for about his feelings for you. And Hope was encroaching on that territory. And Tess could sense it as it caused her to chuckle a bit.

"Well this is rather ironic. I remember a time when your mother and I were in talks of an arranged marriage between the both of you. But those talks fell apart because we were unsure if you 2 would like each other." Tess continued to chuckle with mirth at a mortified Hope.

The situation had gotten 10x more awkward the moment arranged marriage had been brought up. She may have been in love with Duncan but marriage was out of the question. She was just a dumb high school kid in love with another dumb teenage kid. And their future uncertain and more importantly their present. The mortified Hope dared not contemplate the implications of what Tess was saying.

"Relax Hope that was just a joke." Tess replied.

If it was a joke it truly was an unfunny one that just left her feeling rattled and on guard. She waited till Tess's chuckle died down since she was the only one that found it humorous because she wasn't the butt of the joke.

"Your mother would have never entertained the thought of an arranged marriage. She found the concept rather archaic. And despite it working out for her the first time she would have never bound her daughter to an agreement she didn't consent to. She believed you'd grow into the same free spirit she had been in her youth."

Her words made Hope drop her guard because looking back on it she realized how she had fallen short of her mother's expectations.

"I guess I failed her in that." She self-deprecated.

She had spent the bulk of the last two years with her walls built so high she stifled herself and most people that tried to build bridges with her. It was only recently that she started tearing down the walls down but still remained heavily guarded. A far cry from a free spirit her mother had wanted her to be.

"You're far too young to have failed her. You have enough time to be a free spirit later in life." Tess assured her "And your mother wanted more for you than just being a free spirit. She wanted you to be kind and compassionate. And you have not failed her in that. Rafael and your friends are proof of that. And as I have said before I'm glad you were able to at least help one member of my family out. And you have at least tried to help Duncan despite the resistance he has shown you. This may not bring you solace but you've done all you can." Tess tried to give Hope the least bit of comfort.

But Hope hadn't done all she could because there were lines she wouldn't cross.

"It's not your fault my brother cannot be saved from himself." Tess said as though Duncan was a lost cause.

"There is hope for him." She said coming to his defense. Duncan was at war with himself because he could be saved.

"Unfortunately not really." Tess continued her rhetoric of Duncan being hopeless.

"How can you say that?" She asked. It seemed as though Tess had given up on Duncan.

"Because to break the sire bond is no small feat for him." Tess explained, but her explanation didn't clarify anything for Hope.

It was the type of explanation that could clarify for someone already privy to Duncan's inner workings. And despite getting a little insight into his mind she was far from actually knowing what made him tick.

"Duncan never struck me as a person incapable of handling pain." She replied taking the most obvious guess at what Tess had been alluding to.

After all turning until it stopped hurting was the only way to break a sire bond between a hybrid and its sire.

"Physical pain he can handle. But not emotional pain nor the traumas that follow those are something else." Tess explained "In his mission to break the sire bond he never would have been hindered by the pain of breaking his bones. But the pain that would have hindered him was the pain of remembering Sean as he turned. And it was something I never thought he would have been able to overcome. Because he would have had to forgive himself for it and feel no guilt over it in order to. And despite seemingly doing that which was the source his vast rage he has not been able to temper it." She further explained.

It had slipped Hope's mind the impact Sean had had on Duncan. He was his best friend and the person he had killed to trigger the gene. And despite how bleak it was Hope was one of the lucky one not to accidentally kill one of her loved ones. And on top of that to do it in an intimate way like during a fight added more to the trauma. The kind that sticks with a person forever and changes them. The kind of trauma that makes people like Duncan. And Duncan was able to overcome what took years of therapy in under 2 weeks and still came out wanting vengeance.

"As evidence by the rampage he is under taking as he clears the woods." Tess continued.

Hope remembered a time when he had done that before. It had been when Duncan had first come to the school he had taken to the woods to take out his frustration and anger out on the trees. In the span of 3 months he had cleared an entire area and used to the wood to build the structure that would become the barn. That was when his anger had been at its peak.

And for him to take it up again. She loathed to think of the implication. That maybe he was losing the war of moving past his vengeance.

"There has to be something we could do to help him?" Hope asked deferring to the only person close enough to him to be considered the Duncan expert.

"No. There isn't much anyone can do to help him. And it's not you fault he can't be saved. He's the only one with the power to do it and he won't." Tess explained.

That was the largest problem with Duncan being an individualistic rogue state with no oversight. He did whatever he wanted to and unfortunately what he wanted to do was get himself killed.

Hope started to feel even more guilt because she had the power to do something about it. But it was still a violation she couldn't make.

"I hate to admit it but my brother is a lost cause." Tess was saddened by her own admission.

"He's not a lost cause." Hope came to his defense again but even she was failing to convince herself of that.

"He is." Tess reaffirmed "The only way my brother could be saved would be if he were compelled." She said throwing out the wildest theory possible to be hyperbolic "And that's not a luxury supernatural creatures have." She sadly dismissed her own hyperbolic theory.

And she was right supernatural creatures couldn't be compelled. But there was another way they could be controlled. A way that was extremely rare. An occurrence that had happened to Duncan twice. The sire bond could control him. But Hope had always dismissed it because she knew it was an extreme violation.

But Tess had labeled it the only viable option. Which made Hope start to actually consider it. And the more she considered it the more she considered how she would ever think it were a viable option. And the largest motivator for that had been Tess. She was the one that was putting the idea in Hope's head that Duncan was a lost cause and the only way to save him would be to use the sire bond. Otherwise Hope would have never entertained the thought.

"You're trying to manipulate me." Hope accused Tess after she had inspected that line of thought that brought them there. And the person who directed it.

"Does it really matter?" She chuckled dropping the façade and not even bothering to deny the accusation. "It doesn't change what needs to be done."

"But I can't do that."

"Why not?" Tess asked

"Because it's not right." Hope answered.

She knew the difference between right and wrong. And using the sire bond to control someone was wrong. It was a murky grey area when it came to trying to subdue him and stop him from causing immediate harm even then she would loathe to use it.

"What's not right is a boy seeking his own undoing because of a mistake he made and the failure of those responsible for him letting him make that mistake. What's not right is a boy who inherited a legacy of darkness and had to go down the path of his abominable brethren because he was stripped of his childhood friend along with his innocence because others wanted to propagate a war. What's not right is the sister who had to take him away from his home, the only place he had ever known and felt safe because others made it unsafe and wanted his blood for being a pawn in a decrepit game that has been playing on for too long. Life for that 17 year old boy has never been about what's right or wrong. It has been about compromises. And even though it's not right I am asking you to compromise for his sake."

"There has to be another way?" Hope asked. Still deferring to the Duncan expert because her last idea was something she wouldn't do.

"You know there isn't." Tess killed of all other options which weren't even there to begin with.

"Why are you pushing this so hard now?" She asked.

The sire bond was a last resort that Hope would have never used but Tess was framing it as though they were in need of the last resort

"Because the war back home that's been going on for the past 4 years is dwindling down. It is on its final legs but it will take at least 6 months to end. And I am worried he will get the notion in his head that it is required of him to fight. He was willing to do it before despite all the danger when he was just a werewolf but now things have been exacerbated with his new hybrid powers." Tess explained.

It rang true because Hope had been there the 2 times he had planned to go before he was hybrid and had been there after he tried the 3rd time and threatened to burn down the school because of his failure to leave.

"The school has been able keep him for 4 years without actually trying. Now that we are, we can keep him here for months and there's no witch that would help him break it." Hope explained.

Duncan's abhorrent social skills had made sure that he had almost no allies in the witch faction. Fiona at one point had been an ally but he had successfully pushed her away. Unfortunately for him she still cared enough to put the boundary spell on him in the first place.

"He has stayed at this school for so long because he wasn't trying to leave. He was trying to get stronger so he could fight. Now that he has that strength he will be actively trying to get away. His demeanor maybe a hindrance but it is not an accurate predictor of my brother's capabilities." Tess warned.

Because of his demeanor it was easy to just write him off as the hybrid between an angry jock and a social outcast. The type of people that are not associated with higher cognitive functions and barely pass for average intelligence. But Duncan was also top of the grade and ahead in every class. Which she always took as a byproduct of him always isolating himself and having plenty of time to study. She herself was in the same boat. Which was why she was 3rd in the class behind Ellen Singh the resident bookworm.

"Under all of that blinding rage he's an incredible intelligent person who's too smart for his own good once he let's go of his anger or god forbid harnesses it for a singular goal. He will find a way out." Tess said assured of his eventual escape as though she was speaking from experience. "Unless you take away his anger." She added

"How can you ask me to do that?" She asked truly wondering why Tess was adamant on hope abusing the sire bond.

Hope had been on her last legs as she even let the thought cross her mind and continue. Actually ponder using the sire bond instead of immediately shutting it down.

"Because I love my brother. But he has always been great at building walls to keep people out. Because he knew that if he didn't someone could save him from himself. I have failed at breaking down those walls as have Rafael and Fiona, but whether he wants to admit it or not, you got through even before the sire bond. It is probably why he has worked so hard to push you away the most but failed all the same. Now you're in a position to help him that no one else can. You can change his fate all you have to do is take away his anger. Only you can save him from himself." Tess pleaded her final case.

There was nothing more she could say to force the issue. And Hope had truly begun to ruminate on the actual possibility of doing it.

"And you are going to." Tess sated after searching Hope's face for a reaction. She could see the war she had stirred up with in Hope. She had gone from opposed to indecisive to even bordering on for it.

"Because you love him too." Tess stated as she left Hope to think on it further.

* * *

Tess believed she had already gotten to Hope. And as time went on and Hope contemplated on it more she started to prove Tess right. The harder she thought of it the hard it was for her to be against taking away his anger.

Even when she started a pros and cons list. The overwhelming majority was in the pros side while the only thing on the cons side was her conscious. It was a damned if you damned if you don't because there was no right answer. But her head was rationalizing it in favor of using the sire bond.

Even after an hour of careful deliberation she was still undecided but leaning towards using it. The only conclusion she had come to was that she would never be fully convinced she was doing the right. She knew what Tess wanted her to do. Fiona probably would have been in the same boat too and so would Raf. They'd be more concerned about keeping him safe than anything else.

So she went in search of him to do something morally irreprehensible. As she went to the barn where he would have most likely been she punished herself with the memory of him recoiling when he realized she had accidentally used the sire bond on him. And that was just a small accidental infringement that forced a personal story out of him.

Now she had actually contemplated and premeditated using the sire bond to take a crucial and personal aspect of him. And no matter how hard she tried to justify it, it was still a huge violation. It was why she was dragging her feet and going along reluctantly to do what she thought she needed to do.

As she approached the barn her feet got heavier to the point of feeling like lead boots. But she carried on until she entered his domain now face to face with the actual person whose rights she had to violate.

He had his back turned to her. But he already knew she was there. He seemed standing near a liquor cabinet. She had been in the barn less than a dozen times over the years but she had never seen the cabinet before. She would have noticed.

She was more rife with hesitation than she had ever been in her life. It took her a long time to even think about what she wanted to say. And thankfully she never had the chance to vocalize her distorted rationalizations or false small talk.

"I never knew my parents." He informed her still working out of his liquor cabinet "My father died before I was born and my mother died less than a year after that. The only memory I have of her isn't even that sentimental. All I remember is her laying me down as a baby into my crib. At the time I didn't even know who that person and I didn't get the chance. I never knew either of them. But people kept telling me how sorry they were for my loss, even though I never really lost anything. But that's because I've always had Tess. She was both a mother and a father to me. And she was the person I always felt like I was letting down every time I let my anger get the better of me." He put down the glass he was sipping on to face her for the first time. And seeing him broke any resolve she had been able to muster up. "She was the one I was disappointing every time I let my demons get the best of me. But all through it she was there for me and loved me. Until I feel to my darker instincts so bad I reminded her of the brother she had to put down. She would do anything to make sure I don't end up like him." He explained.

Tess had alluded to the dark legacy that Duncan was the heir to. And for the first time she connected the dots of his past to Brenden Walsh. She had wished he would have been a distant relative of his and consequently Raf's. But her wish hadn't come to fruition. He was the brother of Brenden Walsh. A name that even over the years hadn't been used to put fear into the hearts of werewolf children.

The name was too intertwined with malicious slaughter to be considered the type of story you tell to children. Witch, vampire and werewolf Brenden Walsh didn't care which, he didn't discriminate. He eradicated them all and in the span of a few years etched his name as the worst of the Paxons. And by reputation alone she could see the resemblance to Duncan. But not at the moment. Duncan was a far cry from his usual self.

"Like asking you take my anger away" He stated throwing her for a loop.

He knew why she was there. And he seemed disappointed by it which made Hope feel even more guilt.

"And I'm begging you Hope please don't do it. The anger is all I have. The need for vengeance is the only thing that has filled my life with meaning over the years. Don't take it away from me." He begged her.

Long forgotten was the enigma who could only cycle between indifference and rage. He was now the boy who understood how much power she held over him and understood there was nothing he could do about it. He was completely at her mercy. And it sickened her to ever think of taking advantage of him.

She had spent a long time mauling over the idea of using the sire bond to take away his anger. And she had been reluctantly on board with the idea because she thought it was what was best for him. But when faced with the practical execution she had been beyond hesitant. She couldn't do it. Especially when he felt so tied to his anger that he felt it defined him as a bedrock of his being.

She wasn't a saint. There had been a lot of immoral things she had done but she couldn't bring herself to do it. And the vulnerability in his tone made it all the more difficult.

"I'm not." She said deciding not to take Tess's advice, she had been right before when she thought she couldn't stomach the thought of abusing the sire bond and she was right. Tess had been wrong in thinking that the sire bond was the only alternative.

Hope had been stuck in limbo before unsure of what to do or say to help. But even now still unsure of what to do or say but she was going to give him a choice.

"But the vengeance and rage doesn't have to define you. You can be more than that. All of this time I've been confronted with the idea of breaking down my walls and letting people in. But I haven't been able to before. But now I'm choosing to let them down. My biggest fear is that once I let people in they will realize that I am not worth staying for and they will leave. Because I'm not good enough. I was always told that my parents died for me with love in their hearts. But I always felt like they died because they would rather choose death over me. It's why I'm scared to let people in. Because they will either leave or die on me.

"I also know your biggest fear is letting people in because you think you're not good enough to be saved. That you're not worth the effort or that you shouldn't be. Which is why you push people like me and Fiona away. Which leaves us at a crossroads because I am choosing to let you in and even though you didn't choose to let me in we are here all the same. I don't want people to leave and you don't want people to save you. 2 diametrically opposed goals that will leave one of us disappointed. And I'm not going to make the decision for you. You're the one that's going to have to choose." She gave him the ultimatum.

It was something that to a lot of time for careful consideration so she left him there to think on it.

She felt like a coward shifting the decision to Duncan instead of either making it or discussing it between the 2. But Tess had been right in thinking the only one that could save Duncan was Duncan. If she had discussed it with him he would have agreed with her solely on the basis of the sire bond, but now it was truly up to him what he choose.

The only thing she had done to tip the scales was to make him ware of what he would be losing if he did chose his need for vengeance over her. She hoped it would be enough.

* * *

He had always been single minded in his pursuits. A mind in agreement with its demons. But now his demons were rebelling against him each with their own selfish causes.

He knew she shifted the choice over to him only inadvertently using her sire bond to make him choose what he wanted to choose. It was the choice between his need for vengeance and her. And it wasn't even choice at all. All of the things he had sacrificed over the years in the pursuit of his vengeance, everything he had denied himself in service to that singular goal. It had all been insurmountable. He had already invested so much into his vendetta that when the choice came down to his vengeance vs her.

He was going to choose her.

Without a doubt or hesitation he would choose her in a heartbeat when it came down to it. And it hadn't come down to it yet. Which is why he thought of alternatives. A loophole he could abuse to avoid making that choice. Because even if he would choose her he didn't want to let his vengeance go. The most selfish part of him wanted to have his cake and eat it too. To get his vengeance and maybe even her as well.

But he knew the price of getting his vengeance and he wasn't sure he could pay it and make it back to her. Because the price for his vengeance was his death. A hybrid was stronger than most creatures that walked the earth. But not an army of vampires especially on led by an ancient vampires. And the only reason he had been willing to confront DeMarcus was because he wasn't scared to die. He still wasn't scared to die but he had more to lose and he didn't want to lose her.

But he was running out of options as all of his alternative strategies dwindled down until he was left with the choice between his vengeance and Hope. And even after an hour of stupid rationalization for his crusade he was still going to choose her.

Every brick he had used to build his walls came crashing down leaving him in a weak and vulnerable state. He had never felt that exposed in his life in the most tumultuous period in his life. He couldn't hide behind either his apathy or rage. And it was all too much for him to handle.

He walked towards her room. Reminiscent of that day all of those weeks ago when he had been given the choice between ignorance and crossing the river Rubicon. Not many had realized it had truly started that day.

He was the only one privy to that knowledge. He had seen the puzzle unfold that night as he stared at his ceiling. It had been the first night he had reintroduced himself to Hope after nearly a year avoiding her because even then he knew it could lead to a situation similar to the one he found himself in.

It had been that night he had found out Rafael was a Paxon putting some skin in the game for him. And everything that followed all the way to Duncan going to save Landon for Raf and ending up dead for it. Then becoming a hybrid. For his emotions to be heightened to the point that his feelings for Hope over took his need for vengeance.

All of that had led him to standing at her door. Reminding himself that he still had a chance to walk away. The same choice he hadn't made that night that led him to the present where he chose the same and knocked on her door.

Unlike that night she was pleasantly surprised by his presence. Her eyes were puffy which showed she had been crying recently but not for the moment.

She knew why he was there. And it overwhelmed her because she threw caution to the wind and she stepped close and brought him in for a kiss. Something which made him reminisce of a different night. One where he wanted to die with the least amount of regrets and for one time if only once he wanted to kiss her before he left the mortal realm. But instead of the goodbye kiss he had instigated she had instigated a welcoming kiss that invited him into her room. And continued to escalate things further as their clothes left their bodies and feel to the ground.

All culminating into an experience he wished he never would have had. Because he was happy. It had been his hope at the back of his mind to buy time and figure out a loophole for it where he could have his cake and eat. But now he was satisfied and wanted for nothing.

Had that been the end of the story it would have been one he agreed on. But it wasn't. Because although he wanted for nothing he needed something. He needed vengeance. A need that was slowly slipping away the longer he stayed in her presence as they laid in her bed.

* * *

She had fallen asleep but he was restless. The curse that all new vampires and hybrids alike had to face was their heightened emotions. And Duncan's emotions felt even more elevated because they were at his core. The founding principles of his being and he had discarded one for the other. But it wasn't that simple. Because he still felt it. He felt it all and it was all too much for him.

He couldn't bare it anymore and the longer it went on the worse it felt. So he turned it off.

He had always heard about the humanity switch. The greatest ability afforded to young vampires. The ability not to feel. It was like training wheels for vampires giving them a head start on being the psychotic vampires disconnected from their humanity they would be in their future.

Duncan didn't care about the ramifications all he knew was that he had to turn it off and he did.

She had woken from her sleep in high spirits that quickly turned to apprehension when she realized he wasn't in her bed. She tried wave it off as probably him being an early riser and going off to his morning workouts without waking her. But a voice at the back of her mind was telling her it had been a mistake.

That they had rushed into things too quickly. It had been less than 3 weeks ago when they were both involved with different people. And there should have been a longer grace period, out of respect for Landon and Fiona. But that wasn't their only problem.

Both of them had only recently come to terms with their feelings for each other and the fact that those feelings were mutual. But after years of him pushing her away, he had chosen to show her his vulnerable side and that was all she ever wanted. But they probably should have waited and talked things out even more before they shacked up together.

Maybe moving too quickly was too much for him and he needed space. Despite telling herself it wouldn't she worried it might lead to him shutting her out again as an overcorrection for being vulnerable with her. All of her fears turned her apprehension into restlessness as the day passed by. She could barely distract herself while Duncan was off brooding.

She decided to talk to the only friends she could still talk to. But she wasn't able to find either Lizzie or Josie. And things became increasingly concerning when there hadn't been a sighting of the twins or Duncan. It was breaching the realm of suspicious.

But it truly became suspicious when Dr. Saltzman told her he was unable to contact anyone outside the school like there was no signal. And the final piece to the puzzle was when it was reported that the entire school was placed under a boundary spell that no one could leave even through the tunnels. Dr. Saltzman would explain that it had been another one of his dark object that had been used against the school to keep them all in for the next 5 days. The only way they could expedite the process would be if they had the twins siphon the magic.

There was no mystery to it. Duncan was behind it.

He had used the twins to siphon the boundary spell of off him so he could leave the school and used the dark object to keep the rest of them in there so they couldn't stop him. And he had made sure the twins wouldn't be able to cut the 5 day sentence short. Probably by keeping them somewhere away from the school. Not to mention he had also likely been behind cutting of communications from the school by enabling some kind of jammer so they couldn't call for help or warn anyone of what he was going to do.

By the time night came they had already deciphered everything Duncan had done and recognize he was behind it. They were even able to locate the twins with locator spells that showed the girl were in 2 different locations. Probably as a way to keep the other one in line because if they tried anything they wouldn't be able to ensure the other sisters safety.

Tess had been right when she praised and feared her brother for his intelligence. She had told Hope that the only thing that had been holding back Duncan was his emotions of anger. And with the ingenious and brutally efficient plan he came up with the implications were scarier than on the surface. Because for him to do the things he had done. He would have had to switch of his emotions. And she understood full well the danger he posed without his emotions especially to himself. Because without his emotions he wouldn't care enough about her not to get himself killed. And there was very little she could do about since he had severely handicapped her and anyone capable of helping.

The only thing she could do was try to astral project to him and try to convince him not to go into the fray where he might not come back. For him to just come back to her. And if she failed to reason with him she hoped the sire bond would be in place so she'd make him come back.

And she wasn't alone in her sentiment. For she first time in weeks she and Fiona had put apart their differences and were united in a common goal. They gathered up their herbs and the other essentials for the spell and began prepping it in a rush. Hoping that they wouldn't be too late.

But they were.

They had found him in the midst of his rampage cackling in a laughter that inspired fear and hesitation in the vampires that were still alive. Hearts, heads and limbs and the bodies they were attached to were scattered all around the room already. He was covered in blood and displayed his barbaric efficiency when he was dispatching the vampires. He kept switching between his wolf form and human form effortlessly. He threw his axe decapitating a vampire and in the same motion turned into his wolf form to chase down the lone cowardly vampire that was trying to flee. While the braver vampires did their best to follow him only to be ripped to shreds when they got closer to him.

She had seen a similar but unfortunately lesser level of brutality and violence once before. When she was only 9 years old and witnessed her father being the villain that the rest of the world knew him as. Now years later she saw it in the guy she loved and it was even worse. A lot could have been said about her father but there was some class and sophistication to his brutality almost an art form. Duncan's display lacked that and overcompensated with savagery and barbarism. It broke her heart to see what he had become.

When she was young she was taught the distinction between a villain and a hero. A savior and a lost cause. And he was the latter.

* * *

 **AN:** This was a rather difficult chapter for me to write, because there were points during everything that it just seemed like the characters were monologuing at each other instead of having a conversation. But i tried to mitigate it as much as possible.

As we venture further into the danger zone things only become more uncertain.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN:** Generic shounen time skip. Hope P.O.V.

* * *

Her birthday had always signaled the end of times. And she wasn't referring to the birth death juxtaposition that happened when she was born and her mother died for the first time. She was referring to how her birthday always coincided with the beginning of finals. As was anyone who was born in the month of May. But this year the finals were more significant. Because they were the final finals. Her last finals of her senior year.

In less than 3 weeks she would no longer be college student doing an undergraduate course. She would be a college graduate with psychology major from one of the best schools in the world. The end of an era and beginning of a new one since she would continue to move on to her masters.

Her future was already set all she had to do was get through today. The only day she ever let the world revolve around her. Her birthday. But it wasn't out of vanity that she allowed others to skip out on their responsibilities to celebrate her birthday. It was because she knew they all needed an excuse to go party and have big blow out before they chained themselves to the library for finals week and her birthday was the perfect opportunity since it was always a couple of days away from finals week.

Which was why they were going to throw a party on a Tuesday. All of her friends from Allison and Aliyah to Gina and Raf where going even Landon was coming along. But the whole celebration was hours away so she went about getting ready and finishing of what everything she needed to do that day. First on her list was going to the salon.

Under the current climate of the day which was new beginnings she decided it was time for a change or more specifically a return to form. She was losing the blonde and going back to her natural auburn.

She had first dyed her hair blonde at the end of her freshmen year. And it wasn't as girls gone wild or blondes have more fun idea. It was because she was looking for something different and yet familiar since her aunts Freya and Rebekah where blondes. And for the past 3 years she had kept her hair blonde. But now she was done with that phase.

After 2 hours at the salon she was back to being a red head for the first time in 3 years. And with that out of the way she continued down her list of things she had to accomplish.

She went back to her apartment. It was in the upper west side of Manhattan. Only walking distance away from Columbia University. Her soon to be alma mater. The apartment was a prime piece of real estate. 3 enormous queen sized bed rooms, incredible hardwood floors, one immaculate marble bathroom and a kitchen to die for. All shared with her 2 roommates Allison and Aliyah.

She had meet Allison during her freshmen year when she became her roommate. And unlike the first time she shared a room with another girl it hadn't ended in disaster like it had with Fiona. They had actually become very close friends. Allison was the first of many friends she had made over the years in college and Aliyah being the second when they met during the first day of PSYC UN16 during freshmen year. Since then it had been the 3 girls at the core with a constant rotation of other people. It was why during their sophomore year they all moved out of the dorms and in to their current apartment.

When she entered the apartment she was greeted with the sight of Aliyah frantically searching the place. Unfortunately it wasn't that much of an uncommon experience. She had a tendency to misplace her keys. But Hope easily spotted them on the floor by the bookshelf.

"Here." She announced to Aliyah drawing her attention before throwing the keys to her.

"Thanks." Aliyah caught the keys in her hand "Nice hair!" She complimented Hope after noticing the change.

"It was time for a change." Hope jokingly flipped her hair flaunting her luscious head of auburn even throwing in a pose.

"Well it's a good look on you but I'm going to miss the blonde. I enjoyed being the only one without blonde hair." Aliyah had shoulder length curly black hair. And had been the only one of her roommates not to have blonde hair. But now their group was diversified.

"By the way a couple of packages came for you while you were out. Alison signed for them and put them in your room before she had to bolt and meet up Nick. But she did leave you a birthday cake she made in the kitchen." Aliyah informed her much to Hope's dismay.

Alisson was good at many things but unfortunately she was a dreadful cook. Not burning water while trying to boil it was an accomplishment for her. But she was getting better unfortunately baking a good cake was a little bit out of her depth. Her roommates had advised against her doing any baking because of it but she was part stubborn and part well intentioned.

"Don't worry I ate it all and replaced it with a cupcake for the baker down the street. Count it as an additional birthday gift." Aliyah informed Hope of her sacrifice.

"Oh thank god." Hope thanked her friend for taking the bullet for her. Despite Allison terrible food it would have been inconsiderate to just through it out so Hope was glad at least someone ate. Usually they would just hand it off to either Raf or Nick when they visited. Which was probably one of the reasons why they didn't visit very often.

Hope went off in search of her cupcake in the kitchen while Aliyah finished packing up her things

"Hey off to see my advisor I'll see you later." She shouted from the den while opening the door.

"Bye!" Hope responded in the kitchen. "And good luck." She wished her friend off before she shut the door.

Like Hope Aliyah was also a psych major in the honors program and had to present her thesis before the beginning of finals week. Hope herself had also finished of her thesis although her consultation would later during the day before the party. It was a good thing that both girls had each other as roommates since they were both doing the same major. The only odd one out of their trio was Alisson who was doing a business major, the same as Raf.

Hope brought out a box of candles and stuck one on the cupcake before lighting it. She closed her eyes and wished for her continues happiness. She spent most of her days surrounded by friends pursuing an education at one of the most prestigious universities around the world which she would parley into a further education to obtain her master and maybe even a Phd. For a person who had lived the life she had already lived with the many adventures she had had over the years it may have seen mundane. But that was all she truly wished for as she blew out the candle.

And after eating the scrumptious cupcake she went to her room where she started unboxing all of the packages she received and seeing her birthday gifts. There was a large number of packages 12 of them in all and she knew that would be the end of the gifts she received. There were still more to come but these were the ones from people all over the world that weren't just going to drop what they were doing and fly to New York for one day just to celebrate her birthday.

She got a couple of grimoires from her Uncle Kol and Davina. She wasn't a practicing witch only keeping up with the practice on and off choosing to embrace her relatively normal lifestyle. But the gift was appreciated all the same. Her aunts Freya and Keelin sent her an assortment of herbs she could use for the magical and mundane. The twins had sent her a beautiful necklace. Both of them were still in their sophomore year at Whitmore College following in the footsteps of their mothers.

While Dr. Saltzman who still ran the school sent her an antique sword from his own collection and book detailing its history. He had been saddened when Hope had chosen to go for a psych major instead of majoring in history. He knew both of his daughters were adamant about becoming like their mothers, Lizzie had chosen to major in communications so she could become a news anchor like Caroline had been and Josie went the route of their bio-mom choosing to go into medicine. Without any of his own daughters willing to take up his cause he tried to shift the responsibility of on to Hope but was unsuccessful, he even tried to shift it to Landon but he chose to do music at NYU.

After sending out her thanks to everyone who sent her gifts either through email or actually calling them. She fixed herself up and prepared everything she would need for the rest of the day. Going through her to do list one by one before the big blow out.

* * *

Next on that list was her birthday brunch with her aunt Rebekah. She was one half of the only family she had in the city that day. While Hope lived in west Harlem she lived on the other side of the city with Marcel in midtown Manhattan near the empire state building.

"Aw! I'm going to miss the blonde hair." Rebekah greeted her once she made it to the café.

"It was time for a change with new beginnings on the horizon." She explained getting her mandatory hug from Rebekah.

"Well no matter what beginning you always be beautiful blond or not. Happy Birthday my darling niece." She said breaking from the hug.

"Thank you. Is Marcel not coming?" She asked realizing there were only 2 chairs at their table with 2 mimosas already ordered.

"Yes. Unfortunately he had to attend to some business in New Jersey. There's a bit of a ruckus going on with the vampire community there. Nothing to truly worry about but the resident king chose to step in to remind people to behave and not draw too much attention." Rebekah informed her.

Ever since Marcel had left New Orleans with his vampires he had been trying to turn New York into a kingdom resembling his old one. With him at the forefront as king of the New York supernatural community. But that title came with responsibilities. And Marcel seemed to be extending his kingdom to include the surrounding area.

"But before he left he did make sure to leave your gift with me. He was going to get you one of those crude and gaudy bracelets that everyone's been brandishing. But I made him get you a bottle of wine from 1900s. While I got you a new painting set from the Maldives." Rebekah ecstatically announced handing over the gift bags.

"Thanks for saving me." She replied taking the bags in hand. It had been the second time that day she had been saved from well-intentioned gifts.

The bracelet that had become the brand new trend in fashion would ruin her aesthetic. And she would have had to worn it at least twice because Marcel bought it.

"And for the painting set." Hope continued expressing her thanks. As she sat down.

"Nothing but the best for my darling niece. So fill me in how you intend to celebrate the occasion."

"Oh the usual. Have a big blow out so people can get it out of their systems before the finals and use my party as an excuse." She explained.

"Excuse or not a party is a party." She said lifting her glass for a toast. Hope did the same "Here's to all the parties to come." She said as their drink collided producing a clink sound.

Even without Marcel her birthday brunch was still an enjoyable experience she greatly appreciated. It wasn't often that she got to see her aunt despite living in the same city. They were usually all preoccupied doing different things at different times. Hope was always busy with either school or her friends while Rebekah and Marcel were of living their best lives. And would only meet up every other Sunday out of the month.

* * *

Here list of things to do was dwindling down. By the afternoon she was left with going to see her advisor to present her thesis. She had been working on it since the beginning of her final year. The honors program she was in had a very demanding curriculum. Unlike most of the people undertaking the regular program she didn't have the luxury of choosing easy electives during her final semester.

Even with the very demanding curriculum she was managing quite well. It was a highly competitive course so she wasn't like one of the top 10 of her class out of a 100 but she had cracked the 20s mostly staying in the lower ones for the past 2 years. Because of that she was on course to graduate with honors.

So her presenting her thesis was a piece of cake. And she had nothing to worry about with her grades since she only had 2 finals the following week, which she had already prepared for well in advance. Life was great and continuing to be so.

The last things on her to do list was prep for the party and to enjoy it.

She started off their pregame ritual with both of her roommates. Which included tequila and dancing to old school pop music from 2022 while they did their makeup.

Allison loved all pop music from before the start of the decade and would constantly play it. To the point that it infected the rest of the girls and became a part of their pregame ritual.

Allison was the loudest and most vocal of the group. She had been born and raised in L.A. in an extremely liberal house hold. She even had the Cali girl blonde hair to prove it. Which also made her the relatively fun one of the group. As an aggregate they weren't exactly wild for a group and were basically on the same level as each other but by their standers Allison was the fun one. Surprisingly Hope wasn't usually the Debbie downer of their crew that title was bestowed upon Aliyah. She was the scatter brained workaholic and in most cases the relative voice of reason as long as she was sober. When she had bit too much drink she would take Allison's role as the fun one forcing Hope to play the role of Debbie downer.

Despite being in college they didn't go out often to parties.

As seniors the whole entire scene was getting played out. So they only went out like once a month. Instead their usual habit consisted of bar hopping in their general area with their friends.

The usual suspects were Nick who was Allison's on and off again boyfriend. They broke up like once every 2 month and since they kept the drama to a minimum they still remained friends without it being awkward. They were stuck in the constant state of a murk grey area. But it seemed to work for them.

Then there was Gina another friend of theirs they had meet during sophomore year. And Raf who Hope had known since junior year of high school and were there was Raf, Landon tended not to be too far behind and she had known him far longer than Raf. Since her freshmen year of highschool then there were on and off periods. The first of which was caused by him moving away for 2 years and the second being the most drama filled after a stint of romance that ended in heartbreak stopping them from being friends for another 2 years. But that was all in the Past. Now they were good friends and him and Raf made up the people she had known the longest and the only supernaturals of her friend group.

A part from the usual suspects they were usually joined by other people throughout the year while they were pub crawling. All people she would see at the party.

It was in a warehouse in Brooklyn. From what she had been told it was going to be a rave. Gina and Allison had spent most of the day organizing it with different crews from their school. It was going to be the party to end all parties before finals disguised as Hope's birthday party.

From the moment they had gotten in the vicinity of the warehouse she could hear the EDM blaring. It was mostly due to her supernatural senses that she could pick up the noise outside of the venue. There were soundproof wall by design because raves were illegal especially the ones at abandoned warehouses.

The noise truly hit the other girls the moment they entered the warehouse. It was as loud the music was actually reverberating through their bones. After passing through some bodyguards the girls reached the general area and source of all the music.

The rave was well underway with multiple scantily dressed people painted in neon dancing. Her 'birthday' party was quite impressive for something that had been accomplished in less than 8 hours. They had fixed everything up on that very day and not because of lack of planning but because of the legal issues sound rave. Which meant they had to set everything up on the day and then tear it down afterwards. A feat that required true logistical genius courtesy of Allison and Gina.

"And the guest of honor has arrived." The DJ announced as the spotlight flashed on the group of girls announcing their presence.

The crowd on the dance floor turned to the spot light and all shouted.

"Happy birthday!" Before returning to their partying unimpeded.

It was the least they could do using her birthday as an excuse to party. Most of the people in that room of 200 probably didn't know Hope or care enough about her birthday to know this wasn't how she would have celebrated. But she was there anyway because she too wanted to get it out of her system before finals. And as the days dwindled down on their senior year it was probably going to be one of the last parties if not her last party she attended as an undergrad.

Since Allison was the only one in a relationship of sorts she went off to find Nick leaving the single girls alone .So she and Aliyah made the periodic rounds on the floor. With intermissions to get a new drink. She meet up and split up with all her friends multiple times. The people that actually cared about her birthday but still used it as an excuse to party.

The entire night she had grabbed the attention of a couple of guys. They were cute but they weren't her type so she only stayed for one dance and then moving on. Dancing was about fun for her and what wasn't fun was if they tried to get really handsy to the point of it being inappropriate even for a rave. If they did that the dance was already over and she'd brush their hands of and move on.

* * *

Despite wanting to party in her heart she knew she couldn't keep it up for long before she got bored of the cycle jumping from drink to dancing with hot guy and back to drink. And after 3 hours she tapped out.

Allison and Aliyah were going to stay out all night and would probably be back home by 3. But Hope was done long before midnight. And she was going to drag the other girls out of their fun. So the guest of honor at the party left a little early with barely a notice while those who still had a lot of party in them exorcised their demons.

She walked out where there was a group of people out in the sidewalk some smoking while others were just talking. She waited there for a cab.

"Leaving early?" Someone asked making her turn towards him.

She was taken aback by seeing Jay standing there. Partying was never much of his scene. Even when he did attend he wouldn't be there for long and would have been the first to disappear never to be seen again until day light. Like a reverse vampire.

It added to his mystique. His aloof nature made him the closest thing they had to an outsider. But because of his amicable demeanor he was friends with everyone and no at the same time. Jumping from squad to squad and for a time he had joined theirs for like a week before moving on to the next.

"Yeah. It's almost midnight and I don't want the embarrassment of my carriage turning into a pumpkin midway." She explained causing him to chuckle. She was all partied out.

"I can see how that would be a problem. Happy birthday by the way." He wished her a birthday.

Despite them not being close friends she knew he was actually one of the people that actually cared it was her birthday.

"Thanks."

"I already saw you out there on the dance floor. So I know you had fun time." He commented

"Yeah I did." She responded. It was all fun and good until it wasn't which was she was out there waiting for cab

"But you're going home alone without one of your dance partners." He noted.

"They weren't my type." She responded. Some of them were nice guys she assumed because it was hard to tell with all the loud music. But it was easier to tell the douchebags.

"Then what is your type?" He asked with a cute smile.

Jay was tall, lean and had these Hazel colored eyes that were just so easy to get lost in.

"The type of guy I know better than to take home the first night." She informed him

"Well then how about I take you out on an actual date sometime?" He asked coming right out into the open.

Which surprised her. Because she knew he was a bit shy. He favored black skinny jeans, black converse and a black V-neck. But he wasn't dark and morbid he was actually kind of sweet. He may have looked like person who had the soul of a tortured artist. But Jay was a little bit different than that. Jay was just a shy and wholesome person with no baggage.

"Well that is an offer I can't refuse. But I'm going to pretend to think on it for a while." She said with a smile of her own.

It had been a while since she had been on an actual date. She had gone through a period of no boys for years with a couple of sporadic exceptions of one night stands. But it was time to get back out there into the actual dating world. And Jay was the perfect guy for it.

"Good enough for me. Just let me know when you are done fake mauling it over." He replied keeping up the banter.

"I will. Most likely after finals." She unofficially set their date.

"Take all the time you need. For now your carriage awaits." He replied as whistled hailing a cab. And Like the gentleman he was he opened the door for her

"Thanks." She said as she stepped in.

"See you around Hope."

"I'll see you next week Friday." She replied as she closed the doors.

That would have been the end of finals week. So she was setting their date as soon as possible.

* * *

She had left the party in a decent mood that graduated to great after talking with Jay. It was going to be good for her to have a functional romantic relationship without any baggage or drama. One of the great things about new beginnings that she liked a fresh start. Especially with some on as cute and sweet as Jay.

As she headed home she stopped the cab a couple of blocks away from her apartment. She had to stop by Mary's dinner to get a milkshake as hydration to avoid a hangover. With her supernatural healing she didn't have to worry much about hangover but she still did her best to mitigate it all.

And she walked back the rest of the way to her apartment. She got the 6th sense that she was being followed. She was a young girl barely in her 20s walking alone around the streets of New York at 11 pm at night. A dangerous situation made all the more worse that she was being followed. She was still a couple of blocks away from her apartment and there was a lot that could happen between now and then.

As she heard the constant footsteps behind. She decided to test her assumption out. Because maybe the person wasn't following her. And maybe they just happened to be walking the same way. She rounded down an alley way. If the person wasn't following her they would just move on but if they were they would go down the alley as well.

The guy for the most part looked normal wearing casual clothes with a messenger bag. If she were going to be attacked she wouldn't have pictured him doing it. He was like a regular dude. But that didn't mean she'd put it past him. It was unsafe world they lived in and it would have been dumb to trust a stranger.

And here theory was proven right when they did go down the alley way. But he was surprised not to see her in his sights when he did. She had disappeared into thin air but not really. She had super speed. And was able to come out of his blind spot and surprise him.

"You chose the wrong girl to prey on." She told him pressing him against the wall.

Hope didn't exactly have the most physically imposing stature. She may have been athletic thanks to her exercise and martial arts training regimen. But she was also a 5 foot 4 girl that weighed 120 lbs. While the guy was out weighed her by 50 lbs. but she still had him pinned to the wall. Even if he tried to struggle he couldn't get out because she also had super strength.

"I'm not a predator." The guy responded without putting up a fight.

"Then why are you following me?" She asked realizing he was familiar to her. She had seen him outside of the warehouse when she was waiting for her cab.

"I was told to deliver a gift. It's in my bag." He explained grabbing something from his bag.

Hope was on high alert and still extremely cautious. She didn't know what he would pull out of his bag but she was ready either way. And when he did remove her so called gift she saw it was just a book. She let her go of her grip on him taking the book from him.

She was still on high alert and would stop him if he tried anything, but since his story did partially check out she started to inspect her gift. It was a volume of Homer's Odyssey a first edition. And a very rare on at that.

"It came with a message. He said he's sorry he missed you birthday but he will be in touch soon." The messenger informed him.

But she was confused Hope had already gotten her gifts from everyone throughout the day. She didn't know anyone else that would have sent her the gift. Especially anyone with the kind of reach and resources to get to get that particular edition.

"Who's he?" She asked.

"Duncan." The messenger responded before his eyes went blank as he stared into the abyss.

He was compelled and that was probably the last bit of information she would get out of him.

The name of a person she never let cross her mind for a long time. And the promise of his return.

* * *

 **AN:** I know there was a lot of story material I could have written about with the 5 year gap, and all the other things that could happen in the 5 years between the chapters, but at the core this story as always been about Duncan and Hope with a mix of Rafael. Duncan had to go off and do his things for a couple of years away from Hope and Raf so I just fast forwarded to Duncan's return.

And thanks to NovaCrete, your reviews always make me more motivated to continue writing.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN:** Duncan's return through Hope and Raf's P.O.V.

* * *

As usual her roommates had spent the entire night out. Only showing back up at around 3 am still sloshed. They were still sleeping it off 4 hours later while Hope had been deprived of her sleep.

A single name had sent her into a tail spin leaving her restless. For the first time in a long time she dreamt of him. Which forced her to wake up and actively try to dream of something else before she went back to sleep. Only to end up in failure.

She went on her morning run sleep deprived. There was a lot going on in her mind centering around one person. No one had heard from him in 5 years the only things they heard were the rumors that didn't paint a pretty picture. But Hope had stopped caring about that over a year ago. Since then she had kept him out of her thoughts choosing to focus on the life she was living and not the past. All of the progress she made was nearly upended by the mere threat of his return. And that's exactly what it was a threat, to ruin the life she had built for herself and the woman she had become.

Her run hadn't been able to clear her mind. So she'd have to find alternative outlets. It had been a while since she had wolfed. It had been a while since she'd felt so restless that she need for that kind of a release. She had been trying to move on to more healthy coping habits.

Once she had run for nearly 40 minutes she decided it was a futile endeavor and started to make it back. On the way she stopped by a coffee shop to get the heathens a hangover cure in case they didn't feel like having the hair of the dog.

She got each of the girls their on specific order. A green tea crème Frappuccino for Aliyah, a Lemon Bar Crème Frappuccino for Allison and a Caramel Cocoa Cluster Frappuccino for Hope. When her order was up she went up to the counter to pay for it.

But before she could someone from behind her dropped a $20 bill on the counter. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Keep the change." He informed the waitress in an Irish accent.

"What's with the accent?" She asked grabbing the coffees.

The last time she heard that low grumbling deep voice it sounded like someone from New Mexico. But she'd been informed that it was just to help his cover and that he had lost his real accent.

"Going back to my roots" He answered as she turned around to face him.

It was the first time she had laid eyes on him in 5 years. When last she saw him he was covered in blood mid rampage. Since that night he had alluded all manner of astral projections and locator spells. Becoming a ghost.

Now that ghost was back. 5 years was a long time. He had changed his aesthetic from black and grey athletic wear. But he still favored darker clothing because that was almost all he was wearing from his jeans to his coat were black. Only his dress boots and belt weren't black but they were a dark brown. He even had black shades that obstructed her view of his chocolate brown eyes. Wearing them in the early morning.

He looked like a well-dressed playboy douche bag. Which wasn't uncommon among vampires without their humanity.

After staring into his shades that revealed nothing she started walking away from the counter and him. He deserved the cold shoulder so she wasn't going to give him a warm welcome or pretend that she wanted to have that conversation.

"I'm not even going to get an 'it's good to see you' or a 'You can go to hell'?" He asked walking after her.

"Why are you here?"

"I came to see you." He answered jovial despite Hopes cold shoulder.

"You've had 5 years. Why now?" She asked. Last she saw him his emotions were off and he was avoiding her because of it. She'd heard he hadn't even stepped a foot in America since that night with her.

"Who knows maybe it's because the blonde hair was keeping me away." He joked.

"Oh great you've been stalking me." She accused him. She had only recently changed her hair color.

"I was keeping tabs on you." He dismissively corrected.

"Why? It's not like you care about anything." She shot back.

"Of course I do." He answered making her stop in her tracks.

She turned her full attention form stone walling him to deeply focusing on him. His demeanor had thrown her off. He was jovial and what some would consider charming. A far cry from the perpetual loner cycling between anger and indifference. What she knew were defense mechanisms meant to protect his feelings. And without those defining traits she assumed he didn't have his emotions on. But she realized his jovial nature was actually authentic and he had been happy to see her despite not being able to full prove it because his shades obstructed her from seeing what laid behind his eyes.

"How long have you had your humanity back?" She asked realizing he had probably switched it back on.

She'd heard of vampires that could switch it off for decades at a time which was why she thought him lost. But here he was.

"A while." He ambiguously answered not really divulging anything. But at least confirming it was back on.

"How long Duncan?" She pressed him further wanting to know how long he stayed away from her with his emotions back on.

How many hours, days, and weeks had it been? The longer he stayed away the longer she'd be mad. And it was going to take a lot of time if it where weeks god forbid months.

"5 Years." He answered crushing a piece of her she didn't realize was still around

"All this time." She said as her head swirled processing what that actually meant.

And it was horrible. All the night she spent crying, all of the wishes she made that he'd somehow make it back to her and all of the vicious rumors she heard about him over the years. All while he had his humanity back on.

"You want to know what the worst part about all of this is. About a year ago I wished that somehow you'd get your humanity back and you'd come running for my forgiveness. And I probably would've done it. Now I just wish you'd stay out of my life and go back to where ever you came from." She replied walking away.

That little piece of her that had just been crushed wanted him to stop her. The rest of her didn't want him to do it but that little piece still hoped he would. And to her content he failed it just like he had failed her. And let her walk away.

She knew it wouldn't be the last time that she saw him but she hoped it would be another long 5 years before she ever had to see him again.

* * *

For the most part her life was getting better. She was in a good place right now and he didn't have the right to come in like a hurricane. Trying to unearth feelings she had long since buried.

But like the last time he resurrected her feelings she pushed them down and tried to ignore them as they continued to gnaw at her. She got home still thinking about him even though she tried not to. She didn't tell either Allison or Aliyah about her encounter with him.

A part from the supernatural part of her life she didn't normal keep secrets from them. But he was the exception. She had sparsely talked about him to anyone over the years barely informing her new friends about the guy who had broken her heart. She had even asked Raf to stop informing her about his activities.

It was a small step for her to move on to a brighter future. She wasn't exactly pretending her past didn't exist she was just trying to move forward instead of spending all of her time in the past.

But his resurgence had halted any progress she had made to move forward. And without many distractions to keep her occupied. She constantly caught herself thinking of him and she decided it would be a good idea to vent about him to someone.

She may have had not much to do that day with most of her course work already handled but Aliyah and Allison did have things to take care of throughout the day. So she popped by the other side of the city for an impromptu visit to her aunt Rebekah for some advice.

"I was pissed at him at him because he choose to turn his humanity off. A little part of me found that to be oddly endearing, that he loved me so much that the only conceivable way for him to leave was for him not to care about anything. And when I heard all of the rumors I made excuses for him and all of his cruel acts blaming them on his emotions being off and for a long time I gave him a free pass because of it. Now to find out that his emotions were back all of that time. The small amount of good will I had for him just disappeared. And then he just shows up out of the blue and acts like nothing happened." She explained to her aunt. While they shared a glass of wine on her couch.

"He sounds like an awful wanker." Rebekah gave a succinct analysis.

"He is." She said in agreement

"But I can see that you still care greatly for him."

"It's complicated. It always was. And it took me a while to realize that it was just my unresolved daddy issues." She explained causing Rebekah to signal for further clarification "Like all of the major guys I dated he reminded me a bit of my dad. All of them shared aspects of him. Roman had this devilish charm that reminded me of him. And because of his rebellious bad boy streak he was the perfect cry for attention. And as cliché as it sounds I used him to get back at my dad by joining in on his callous disregarded for authority. With Landon it was a little bit different. He was the best of them and encapsulated all of my dad's best aspects. He was the romantic and compassionate kid with a troubled past. And he was still kind despite being a misfit. It made him into an old soul and a bit of a tortured artist reminiscent of my dad. His willingness to be vulnerable with me always endeared me to him. He was beacon of light for me." She explained.

Landon had been the light at the end of the tunnel for her but she chose to stay in the dark tunnel that was Duncan.

"But Duncan was the exact opposite. He encapsulated my dad's worst aspects. He was vengeful and obsessive in his self-destructive tendencies. They made him a danger to himself and everybody else and instead of fighting his demons he allowed them to control him. He even embraced them just like my dad. He even went as far as to abandon me for years on end." She explained.

Duncan's darkness had drawn Hope in like a moth to a flame. And she got burnt because of it.

"Now I've never been one to mince words about my brother. He was an awful wanker in his own right. But there is a difference between him and your little friend. You changed your father and because of it he never abandoned you. He always chose to save you. Remember that." Rebekah reaffirmed a lesson she had long since learnt

But it was always good to have a reminder of the men her father had become in the later years of his life. After living a millennia without feeling anything he died with love in his heart for the daughter he was saving.

"And you need not worry about the similarities he has with your father. Because from what I've heard he has modeled himself after an altogether different beast. A monster monsters were afraid of. The worst of us all. The destroyer." Rebekah Mikaelson evoked their namesake.

Mikael the destroyer. A name that even decades after his demise struck fear and dread in even the oldest begins on the earth. A fear that was well earned when he spent a millennia destroying villages and cities by the hundreds in search of his way ward children in hopes of ending the vampire species.

Over the past 5 years Duncan had been doing the same to a lesser extent. First with the slaughter of all of the Dublin vampires. And then with the continuous genocide of vampires all over the world. For years people had been warning about an upcoming hybrid apocalypse. But of the hybrids that had been created over the years none embodied the devastation he had perpetrated. He had become a bane of the vampire species even gaining the moniker of the demon wolf.

"Unfortunately for you he doesn't have the power Mikael had and will get himself killed. He's been around for less than a week and he has already over stayed his welcome into this city. Marcel just got back from dealing with his mess across the river. And it has added to the growing list of transgression he has committed against Marcel. It seems your little friend had gotten to an old flame of his and a couple more old friends when he was tearing about Europe. And Marcel isn't the only enemy he has made during his crusades. This city is filled with vampires with a list of grievances against him. Marcel will keep them at bay for your sake. But he is still not welcomed in this city and he has to promptly vacate least he turn it into a warzone. If you come into contact with again make your peace with him and get whatever closure you want from him and move on with your life. He has done nothing to deserve you caring about him." Her aunt Rebekah advised.

And Hope was willing to put that into practice the next time she saw Duncan. It was time for her to move on, but she hoped it would be a while before she had to see him again. Partly because she didn't want closure with and mostly because she didn't want to see him so soon.

* * *

One day at a time. That was how he was getting through everything. His future was set and all he had to do was walk the straight and narrow for the next 2 weeks and it would all be over. Then he could begin new chapter in his life. With Tess's blessing.

She was the entire reason he was there. One of the best colleges in the world undergoing the most common major for people with old money. A business major. Getting primed and ready so that maybe one day he'd have a larger role in the family business. If he choose to do so.

Because that was how Tess operated. She gave people the keys to their destiny and let them drive of but the car had a broke steering wheel so it always ended up where she intended it to. But at least she gave him the illusion of free will. She was even going to give him 2 years once he was done with his major. 2 years to figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his life. And if he failed to find something then it was off to the family business.

Even though that was years away he still felt the noose tighten around his neck as the days went by. One at a time.

But the days of the current chapter of his life were coming to an end. And there was only one thing he had on his bucket list before he graduated. He had put it off for years because he knew how embarrassing it was. He had even promised Landon that he would never do it again.

He was going to do spoken word poetry to vent about his frustrations. Nowadays he didn't have that many frustrations to complain about. Life was far more than good for him it was great.

In 5 years he had gone from pauper to prince. He was attending Columbia University. An Ivy League school that he probably wouldn't have been able to get into if he wasn't scion of Walsh Industries. A notable benefactor to the school. He also lived in an expensive apartment with a great view of the city. Bought and paid for by Tess. Which was a small pay out from his trust fund. Which had more money than he had ever dreamed of having.

And Tess allowed him to share the wealth with his foster brother. Even paying for Landon's tuition at NYU where he was studying music. Both brothers were basically living the dream.

And all it cost was Raf finishing college with a business degree since he had been undecided in his sophomore year.

So any complaining he did held the same merit as a champagne socialist. When people became so privileged their problems became petty because those were the only problems they had. With so much freedom all he could complain about was that he didn't know what to do with it.

Which made his poem all the more embarrassing. And to avoid getting ridiculed by Landon and his other friends he signed up for the earliest slot on the open mic night schedule. Long before the evening went underway and his friends as well as more people showed up.

The pub at that time wasn't heavily populated so he went on to express his emotions to people who weren't actually paying attention. Even with the low number of people he was still nervous about saying the poem but he had practiced it in secret for a while. And there was no time like the present to put it out there.

"Hello." He announced on the mic to the 20 people that weren't really interested in his performance "My name is Rafael and I'm going to be performing a poem titled Destiny" He continued gaining the attention of a couple of people.

"Destiny… She has two ways of crushing us. By refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them. 2 roads lay before me. One that was built on the labor of my predecessors. And only toll is that I shackle myself and follow in the footsteps of those before me. The other road has yet to be built but requires me to take the scissors to the ties of my family and stab them in the back. Spit in the face of their generosity on the path to find myself. Made even worse by the animosity for whatever I choose to do." He said gaining a larger following of people.

"Liberty against security. I make my pros and my cons list and they all balance out. In conclusion no conclusion. And my indecision makes my decision for me. Becoming the rope that I use to lynch myself trying to reach my purpose."

He knew the man Tess wanted him to be. But she had always left the choice up to him. And since he didn't know what he wanted to be he just went along with her wishes. A passenger in the road of his own destiny instead of making it.

"My so called enlightenment. That has left me in the dark. The fear of the unknown grips my heart as I march on road set before me. But I have become the unknown. The boy I once was becoming a distant memory the further I drove along the road that was set for me. The man I was meant to be getting closer in view. One mile at a time. I can picture him now. I hold his photograph against my own and I have become the stranger. Because I don't know myself. But I know my destiny. Not because I have made it but because she has made me." He said finishing his poem to few claps from the crowd that had grown in size while he was saying his poem.

But he wasn't discouraged by the lack of feedback he received form the crowd. He had said his peace and made his peace with it. His bucket list was complete with the least embarrassment possible.

Now the only thing that crossed his mind was getting a beer. He hadn't needed the liquid courage to go up on stage but he needed it to survive the aftermath.

"That was a nice performance." Someone from behind him congratulated him as he walked toward the bar "I thought you were done with spoken word poetry. Seeing as how much trouble it got you in the last time." He added on with his brogue becoming undeniable. A rather distinct one from one of the richest places in Dublin.

He turned around to be greeted by an old face that hadn't changed much in the past 5 years. Except for the smile on it.

"Last I heard you were causing trouble of your own in Sudan." Raf shot back causing him to chuckle.

He had heard that he had spent the first 2 years carving a path of destruction all over Europe. Then the next 2 years in Asia and for the past year he had been in Africa continuing his path of destruction specifically in eastern Africa. The last time any information came about him it was 6 months ago near Sudan. Since then things had been eerily quiet with no sign of him.

They had begun to worry that all of his karma had finally caught up to.

"Oh you know how it is with one of us. Where ever we go trouble just seems to follow us. It's good to see you Raf." Duncan said as the two hugged.

5 years spent searching for him and he was finally there.

"It's good to see you too. But what are you doing here?" He asked.

Over the past 5 years he had learned to love his family and by extension Duncan. But it was still concerning that he had come out of hiding and meet up with Raf.

"I was just in the city and thought I should catch up with family. So I came to see my favorite nephew" He replied causing Raf to chuckle.

He was Duncan's only nephew and would probably end up that way since the clock was ticking on Tess and she didn't seem to have the time to settle down. Between running the family business and searching for Duncan. Which was no longer a problem.

"Tess is going to be pissed! You came to me first." He answered.

"Yeah which is why you should probably hold off on telling her I'm here."

"So she can be pissed at the both of us. When she finds out I didn't tell her about you" He wasn't going to put his neck out for Duncan. There was no need for both of them to incur her wrath.

"No. Don't think of it like that. Think of it as I'm not actually here. And plus I assume she'll be here for you graduation so you can tell her then." He informed him.

It seems while they were keeping tabs on him he was keeping tabs on them.

"You planning on sticking around for that long?"

"Yet to be determined at a later date. For now how about a drink?"

"Now that sounds like a good idea." He replied back.

There was nothing like catching up with an old friend over a cold one. So they had a beer, then another one and then another one. As they caught up with each other. 5 years was a lot of time and a lot had happened since then. Raf's tolerance for booze had grown exponentially so knocking back 3 beers was only enough to get him tipsy.

They talked about old times, both dodging the actual landmines of their past. So they still found themselves talking about Ireland and the denizens of their ancestral home.

"Oh. That whole entire coven is filled with a bunch of judgmental stiffs. I've never meet any coven more self-righteous than them. And Patrick was the worst of them. I still remember all of the lectures he gave like he was holier than thou. If that man was a spice he would be flour" He said as both of them laughed each remembering their encounters with Patrick O'Donnell.

The Rhiannon warlock was a pain to deal with. Whenever he went back to Ireland for the holidays Tess always shifted the responsibility of dealing with the bore on to Raf. Because even if the man was devoid of any semblance of fun he was still an esteemed member of the Rhiannon coven.

But he wasn't the only one in the Rhiannon coven that he and Duncan had dealt with. It was seemingly unavoidable for them not to talk about her. But they had did their best because she was one of those landmines in their past

"Have you talked to her?" He asked once the laughter had died down.

"Which one?" He asked.

Fiona wasn't the only one they had avoided talking about.

"Either of them."

"I talked to Hope earlier. Told me to piss off but I don't hold it against her. I haven't talked to Fiona but also imagine she would tell me the same." He answered.

"Yeah. You messed up with both of them. Royally." He chastised Duncan.

"Yeah I'll make my amends with them soon enough."

"They weren't the only ones you pissed off with your grand exit." He chastised Duncan further.

He was the one who had been there for the fallout of his disappearance for both of them. They were the one that had lost the most when he had left. But they weren't the only ones that had to deal with his disappearance.

"I know and. And it seems one of those people has just arrived." Duncan informed him directing Raf's line of sight to Landon and Nick who were headed over to their table.

The pub was just starting to fill out with more people as the night began.

"Wow, wow what is he doing here?" Landon asked surprised to see Duncan. And not in a good way.

Where Raf had been happy to see Duncan. Landon wasn't. He didn't have the familial bond that Raf had with Duncan. And they hadn't left on the best of terms. While Duncan had left after at least helping Raf deal with his lunar psychosis. Duncan had also left after sleeping with Hope.

"Lan relax." Raf stepped in to deescalate the situation.

Landon was too overcome with emotion to realize he was being too aggressive with Duncan. And Duncan was never known for his mellow personality. Apart from people he cared about anyone that aggravated him rarely walked away unscathed. Raf was one of those people he cared about but Landon wasn't. But Raf had still had to make sure that Duncan didn't hurt him and that required taking away any excuse Duncan had to retaliate with force.

"No it's fine." Duncan stepped in still being amicable "I think he and I have a lot of unresolved issues to sort out. Why don't you go grab us a couple of beers." He asked Raf to leave but he wasn't going to do that "I'll be on my best behavior." He tried to convince Raf.

But despite his current good mood Raf was still unmoving.

"I got love for you bro but your best behavior doesn't really mean much." He wanted assurance that if he decided to leave that table Landon would still be in one piece when he came back.

"You have my word I won't hurt him. He's just one of the people I have to make amends to. And I assume you don't want to stick around and rehash the past making the whole entire situation more awkward."

Landon, Duncan and Raf's past were intertwined by one girl. Which had been very weird in retrospect or a testament to just how special she was.

"Any problem with that boys?" He asked either of them for an objection.

"Fine. With me." Landon replied. He always wanted to talk thing out and at least have the conversation.

But Raf's skin in the game was miniscule. And the conversation was one he didn't want to have. It was the second conversation he avoided having with Duncan.

"Fine. A couple of beers coming up. Come on Nick." He told his friend as they left the other 2 to hash out their problems.

"What's the deal with those 2?" Nick asked curios about the tense conversation he had witnessed

"It's complicated" Raf answered not explaining much.

It was between Landon, Duncan and Hope. The only reason it concerned Raf was that at one point in time he had feelings for Hope. Around the same time she left his foster brother for his biological uncle.

"Oh say no more." Nick responded dropping it right there.

Nick wasn't the type of person to pry and gossip. He was the exact opposite of his on and off again girlfriend Allison. It was probably why they broke up so much, they were just too different. While Allison was the hyper liberal Cali girl, Nick was just the chill dude from the Midwest.

Raf had meet Nick on the first day of classes and had been friends since. Raf had even been the one to introduce him and Allison who he had meet via Hope. Their crew was made up of Hope and her girls Allison and Aliyah mixed with Raf and his boys Landon and Nick.

As he and Nick set at the bar he concentrated so that he could eavesdrop on Landon and Duncan's conversation. Over the years Raf had honed his powers to the point that he was still able to hear them despite being in a crowded room.

"Dressed in all black and wearing shades at night. I didn't realize dressing like a vampire from 2013 was back in style." Landon insulted Duncan right of the bat after sitting down.

"Oh come on hipster boy we could at least pretend to be civil." Duncan responded still being affable

"Civil went out the window the day you kissed my girlfriend."

"In all fairness I wasn't in my right state of mind. Nevertheless I am sorry about that."

"Your apology is 5 years too late. Tell me something. That night when Penelope Park told me the truth about my mom and you tried to stop her. Was it because you were scared she'd rat you out." Landon harshly accused Duncan.

"No. I tried to stop her because I meant what I said 'nothing good could have come from you hearing it from someone else'. So I just made sure you heard it from Hope first." He explained.

"Oh how kind and noble of you." Landon replied just dripping sarcasm. "I wonder where that kind person was when you decided to skip town and disappear for 5 years leaving Hope brokenhearted." He said harshly at Duncan.

Despite Duncan apology Landon still held his grudge over Duncan and for multiple reasons.

"There is no need for such anger." Duncan tried casually to dissuade Landon justified anger towards him.

"I have every right to pissed." Landon answered still showing his anger.

Raf was scared things would only escalate from there. And had to step in before they reached the point of no return if Duncan decided to match Landon's anger in retaliation. So he turned from the bar where he had been pretending not to eavesdrop. The moment he did Duncan lifted up a hand signaling he wouldn't retaliate.

"You know I thought you of all people would have rejoiced at my departure. With me out of the way I thought you would have tried to fill the vacuum that I left. Or maybe you did and you failed. But I'm sure a part out still held out hope pun unintended that you had a chance. And now that I'm back you're scared you that even after all of this time you will end up being irrelevant nobody you were back at Mystic Falls High. Maybe that's why you're so pissed." Duncan shot back at Landon choosing to retaliate with words instead of violence.

After Duncan's tirade Landon stood angrily and abruptly. Duncan had struck a nerve. And Landon wasn't sure how to retaliate. Landon was never one for violence even after years of combat training he wouldn't resort to violence. And even enraged he knew better than to attack Duncan. And he couldn't fight back with words either because nothing he could say would wipe the smug smile off of Duncan's face.

So he did the only thing he could he walked away unable to combat anything Duncan had said.

After Duncan left Landon had tried to get back together with Hope unsuccessfully. At first she was too grief stricken at the loss of Duncan and shut everybody out. Then as time went by she started letting people back in except for Landon. They weren't even on speaking terms for nearly 2 years.

It was only when Landon stopped trying to get back together with her and started trying to be her friend again did she let him back in her life. Raf had been unsure of Landon still had feelings for her. Raf himself had dealt with his on lingering feelings for the girl years ago when he reasoned with himself and realized she was too intertwined with people closely related to him. And had been a friend to her all of that time.

So Duncan had hit a sore spot when he mentioned Landon's feelings and rejection during his tirade. It was a low blow and the lowest blow of all was mentioning Landon's insecurities about who he had been in high school.

Landon had always felt like a loser and an outcast. Hope had been the one to see past that for him and had been the first person to care about him. It was why he had been so in love with her. He wasn't special but she made him feel like he was. Especially when he was the irrelevant nobody at Mystic Falls High.

It took him finding out he was a phoenix for him to feel special for the first time in his life and he couldn't enjoy it. Because not long after that Hope was leaving him for Duncan. Making him feel like even though he was special, he wasn't. He was just back to the being the irrelevant loser even though he wasn't.

It took moving to New York, attending NYU and meeting new people as well living in the same penthouse as Raf. For Landon to feel special again.

But Raf knew deep down it was still one of Landon's irrational insecurities. That somehow someway the other shoe would drop with Raf as it had Hope.

His fear of being that guy again made him prepare for the other shoe to drop. It was why he still worked at a coffee shop to make his own money on the side despite Tess giving him a far more than generous allowance. Raf had tried to make sure that Landon understood that his trust fund was Landon's as well. But Landon hadn't wanted to be anymore indebted to Raf's family and by extension Duncan.

And Duncan had exploited all of those insecurities to beat Landon over the head with them. It was so bad Raf would have preferred it if Duncan had just literally beat him. At least then Landon wouldn't have had to fight of his own insecurities.

"Landon." Raf tried to talk to him when he passed them but he was unresponsive.

So Nick went after him. Raf stayed unsure of who to check on first. Either to go to Duncan and berate him or Landon to go and comfort him.

"Blood is thicker than water." Duncan raised his hand again with a thumbs up. He was signaling for Raf to leave him behind.

Tess had once explained to him how most people misinterpreted the phrase. It was supposed to mean you put those you have shed blood with and those who have intentionally shed blood for you above the people you were accidentally born to.

So with Duncan's blessing Raf choose blood over water. Because Landon had been there for him.

* * *

With the big blow out and her party over. It didn't necessarily mean that they were done going out and going to shackle themselves to the library studying. Most of her friends had a proper work life balance when it came to their courses so they never bothered to have cramming sessions before finals week.

And since they were all seniors most of her friends had chosen easy courses that didn't require much attention for their final semester. Only she and Aliyah had the difficult curriculums because of their honors program.

So after a day of studying and getting her school affairs in order. She could right the finals at that very moment and pass with flying colors. So she had nothing to worry about when she popped down by the pub to meet up with her friends. She wasn't sure who would be there but she knew at least some of them would be there.

It was their regular pub and it was open mic night which probably meant Aliyah would try and pick up one of the artistic types that would usually perform at the pub. Allison too since she and Nick were on one of their breaks.

When she got to the pub she headed straight towards the table that they usually occupied.

As she got closer she heard Allison's distinctive laugh that she used when she was flirting as well as Aliyah's and then a third laugh from someone else she didn't know. It didn't sound like either Raf or Nicks. So she assumed it belonged to whatever guy Allison and Aliyah were competing for at the moment.

As she got in sight she saw him. Of course she hadn't recognized the laugh. She had never heard him laugh before.

As she got to the table she drew their attention towards them. She stood in front the table overlooking them with both Allison and Aliyah by his sides. Even at night and indoors he still had his shades on. And he was far too comfortable in between the 2 girls that moments ago were fighting for his attention.

"Oh Hope this is Duncan we just met him here." Allison gleefully introduced Hope to someone she already knew "And Duncan this is our friend Hope."

"Nice to meet you Hope." He casually nodded acknowledging her presence but pretending he didn't know.

It was like he wanted to play a game where they were stranger who had just met while he was flirting with her friends. She knew it wasn't a coincidence.

"No. I'm not doing this." She replied rejecting to play his game. She wasn't in the mood for games and with him there she wasn't in the mood for fun "What do you want Duncan?" She asked right off the bat.

It confused the other 2 girl because they were unaware of what was actually happening. Aliyah was the one to comprehend first.

"Wait you're that Duncan?" She asked putting the pieces together first and asking for confirmation.

"Oh you've heard of me. All good I presume?" He asked turning to face Aliyah with a devilish smile. But with the revelation of his identity his charm was wearing off on the girls.

His new founded charms were slowly getting more obnoxious to Hope. She never thought she would but she missed his atrocious social skills and brooding at least then he wasn't as obnoxious.

"You still haven't answered my question what do you want?" She asked again.

"To talk." He casually responded to her hostility.

"Then say what you need to say." She replied still retaining her hostility towards him.

"Perhaps this is something we should discuss at an alternative venue." He suggested.

"Fine." She agreed. It was private conversation they had to have away from spectators.

And everyone there would have agreed except for Allison since she was a bit of a gossip and liked to pry.

"Well if you'll excuse us ladies. She and I have some rather personal unfinished business to attend to." He announced to her friends as the left to the alternative venue.

He choose to go to the roof of the pub where they were secluded from everyone and prying eyes and ears.

"Well were here talk."

"Did you like the gift?" He asked.

"Oh volume 6 of Homer's Odyssey. The volume were Odysseus returns home after years away. Could you be any more transparent?"

"I thought it would be poetic." He answered expressing his own vanity.

"Well it wasn't. Because you are not Odysseus. He did everything in his power to make it home overcoming every single obstacle. While you choose to leave and stay away as far away from me as you could. Just so you could go on the war path." She said drawing the distinction between the hero of Homer's Odyssey and the lost cause he chose to become.

"In all fairness I've grown since that youthful indulgence." He replied as his only defense

"And that mess you left in New Jersey?" She accused him.

"How are you so certain it was me?" He asked acting coy.

"When an entire community of vampires cease to exist over the course of one day. 9 times out 10 you're behind it. Is that why you didn't show up yourself on my birthday?" She asked.

Wondering if even recently he choose his darker urges over her.

"No it's not. I didn't show up on your birthday because I thought you deserved to celebrate your birthday without my obstruction. It's why I compelled the messenger to give you the gift after your birthday." He answered

"Well it's nice to know that you care?" Her sarcasm was vile infused "But we both know that gift was a bribe so what do you really want?" She accused him.

"The gift was a gift Hope." He answered. But she didn't believe him.

"You want something from me as evidence by you showing up out of the blue with a gift and trying to ingratiate yourself with my friends as quickly as possible." She accused him further with evidence.

And whatever he wanted had its time constraints, which was why he was rushing the process of manipulating her. Instead of slowly integrating himself into her life and making her drop her guard. He was trying to buy his way back in.

"So the sooner you get what you want or realize that I will never give it you. The sooner you will leave." She continued.

Rebekah had been right when she said it was best he leave the city quickly. He had too many enemies and not that many friends in the city. But he was still capable of turning the city into a war zone. Above all else Hope wanted him gone.

"You may not believe me but I actually do care about you Hope."

"You're right I don't." She answered and she had 5 years to prove he didn't care "What do you want?" She asked again for the final time.

"Fine." He reluctantly conceded trying to prove he cared "I want you to help me break the werewolf curse." He admitted causing her to laugh.

He was becoming even more of a cheap knockoff of her father. A long time ago he had also planned on making a werewolf army using the rings. His plan had involved making the werewolves more powerful and lethal to vampires. Her father's plan was all about control. With the rings he would control the werewolves and with his blood as the cure to werewolf bites he would be able to keep the vampires in line.

"I'm not going to make moonlight rings for you so you can build yourself a werewolf army." She rejected his request.

She wasn't going to help him consolidate more power so that he could continue his war mongering.

"I'm not talking about. I'm talking about actually breaking the werewolf curse once and for all." He explained to her confusion.

* * *

 **AN:** And that is Duncan's return. As I have said previously the core of this story has always been about Duncan and Hope, with Raf as an add on so I might not write about Raf's storyline, his growth and character development ever again. This might be the last P.O.V. for Raf I write. I also won't be going in depth into the OC characters I created that make up Hope and Raf's circle of friends.

And more importantly we are nearing the end of this story. I am going to end it at chapter 20 and will try to drop a new chapter every single week since I am done with most of them.

As always thank you for checking out my fanfic and please leave a review, always interested in feedback.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** Duncan's plan revealed through the P.O.V. of Hope and Duncan.

* * *

"What do you mean once and for all?" She asked confused.

It seemed like they were having 2 different conversations.

"Exactly that. We're not going to protect a couple of werewolves from having to turn every full moon. We are going to set the entire species free." He explained as though it was forgone conclusion

"What makes you think I'm going to do that?" She asked challenging his assumptions.

"You're cousin. Adrian." He replied casually bringing up the only vulnerable member of her family.

Half of them were truly immortal originals and the other half were powerful witches all capable of defending themselves form any threat. Even Keelin could defend herself with the help of her moonlight ring. But he chose to mention the only family member than couldn't defended themselves. And he brought him up as though he was insinuating something would happen to him if she refused him.

"Tread very carefully." She warned him. She didn't take threats to her family very lightly. Especially to the youngest and most vulnerable member of that family.

Adrian was only 6 years old. A child that the rest of the family had promised would never have to go through the things they all suffered. Freya was going to make sure that boy grew up to either be like his mother Keelin who was the best person in their family or at the very least end up like his biological father Vincent who was the most righteous person their family knew. And he was going to become either of them with the least amount of tragedy in his life.

And she would destroy Duncan if he ever endangered that sweet kid.

"God Hope. I wasn't insinuating any threats towards him. What kind of person do you think I am?" He asked with indignation as though she had sullied his good name. Which he didn't have.

"I don't know what kind of person you are Duncan. I thought I did." She admitted. A long time ago she had thought she had finally cracked his code and actually understood him. It was why she fully let him in "But then you left and since then all I have been hearing about you are these tales of the demon wolf going around committing monstrous acts."

"To vampires! Not werewolves and especially not children. There is a vast difference between inflicting atrocities to those that have committed countless and even threatening to harm werewolf children." He explained the limits of his monstrous actions. At the very least he wasn't exactly like his brother.

"The boy is also one of the 7 and the last of the Malraux. No true werewolf would ever touch. And he is your family so I would definitely never hurt him. I was just trying to make the point that when he one day triggers the curse wouldn't you want to give him greater control of his powers and lessen the burden on him." He said, instead of threatening Adrian he was invoking him to make her comply with his request.

Textbook manipulation but she had a counter to that.

"If that happens then he'll join the crescent pack we have control over our transformations." She retorted.

At the current moment the crescent didn't actually control over their transformations. An unfortunate side effect of her mother's hybrid nature getting sealed before her death. She was the reason they were able to control the transformations. And once that power was taken away from her it was also taken away from the rest of the pack.

Later down the line Hope would finally take her place as the alpha of the crescents and would return their ability to control their transformations.

"And if he doesn't want to join the pack?" He asked continuing his hypothetical.

"Then I'll make him a moonlight ring." She answered.

There were currently only 2 black kyanite rings inexistence. The one Freya gave to Keelin and the reverse kyanite ring in Hope's possession. The mineral was rare to find as was the spell to create them. Hope already had one half of the equation in her hands since her grandmother had created the spell and with their families incredible resources they would be to get the other half. It wasn't a concern for her.

"And what about all of the other werewolves around the globe that don't have the privilege of your favor?" He asked invoking the entire werewolf species to persuade her.

It wasn't that she didn't care about other werewolves. They were her people to. But Duncan had less than stellar motivations.

"Don't act like you care about them. You're just trying turn the tides against vampires. What you get bored of doing all of the dirty work yourself and now you want to enlist an entire species in you mad vendetta against vampires?" She accused him of his questionable motivation for wanting to break the curse.

"Believe it or not but my altruism is rooted in me caring for my people. Before I became a hybrid I was a werewolf, one who didn't have the luxury of control over my powers like you did. And For a millennial vampires have waged countless campaigns against our people driving us to near extinction multiple times. Because we were weak and couldn't control our powers. The only times we weren't weak was under the full moon when we became out of control beasts. I'm not asking because I want the extinction of the vampire race in revenge for years of persecution. I'm asking because I want the persecution to stop. To put the power back into the hands of our people all over the globe. What they decide to do with that power is up to the individual. Which is why I want the whole entire species freed. So that there is no centralized power coercing them to do anything they don't want to." He said pleading his case.

She didn't buy his selfless altruism. But without him implicitly benefiting with more soldiers for his wars, she didn't have any other reason but to think he was doing it out of the kindness of his heart. Even then she still didn't believe him or see what angle he was playing at. But what he was proposing was still radical.

"It will upset the balance off nature." She informed him. Because what he was talking about was chaos bordering on anarchism against nature. "I am not going to be responsible for upsetting the balance." She was a werewolf although a privileged one she still empathized with the plight of werewolves all over the world. But she was also part witch. The supposed keepers of the balance of nature. And often times its greatest violators.

And her family was on the top of the list of violators. They violated nature more than enough times for it to have already cursed future generations. Her mother's side was responsible for the creation of the werewolf species and her father's side had been responsible for the creation of the vampire species. As well as making her father a hybrid and the progenitor of the hybrid species. One of the biggest screw yous to nature. And with her purpose of ending Malivore completed she was currently the biggest screw you to the balance of nature. Being part witch part vampire and part werewolf. And each time her family violated nature it got its pound of flesh. So she was a bit reluctant disrupt it without proper justification.

Duncan had already made a decent case for it but his dodgy and mysterious motivations gave her pause.

"The balance of nature has always been in flux. It is the founding principle of nature that change is the only constant. I'm just suggesting we change the balance in the favor of the underdogs so they don't have to suffer the burden of having to change." He reiterated but this time it had won her over.

"Fine I'll help." She agreed still reluctant to help because of Duncan. But she put it aside for what she thought was the greater good. And as much as she didn't want to she was also staring to give him the benefit of the doubt. But another obstacle laid in their path.

"But even I'm not powerful enough to make a spell of that magnitude." She informed him.

She was the most powerful witch in the world, even though she wasn't practicing she had mastered her magic. And had been able to control vast amounts of it instead of having most of it sealed. But even with all of that power the spell he was suggesting was near impossible for her to accomplish without killing herself.

She had the power of a hundred witches and using that all of that power at once would be too much for her durable body to handle.

"That's already taken care of." He dismissed her concerns assuring her it was okay.

"Then what do you want from me?" She asked.

She had thought the entire reason he had been desperate to get her on board was because she was probably the only witch in the world capable of such a spell. But he was seemingly confident that he had that covered.

"There are a lot of things I want from you Hope." He said casting a devilish smile causing her to roll her eyes rejecting his advances. And he chuckled at her response "But at the moment I'll settle for you going to New Orleans tomorrow."

"Why?" She asked.

"That's where we are going to break the curse." He answered.

"I can't just drop everything on the dime of a hat and go to New Orleans."

"Yes you can. Today was your last day. You submitted your thesis yesterday and submitted you're assignments today fulfilling all of your academic requirements."

"So you have been stalking me." She accused him again.

"Yes I have." He admitted it.

"And exactly why are you making this so urgent that I have to leave tomorrow?" She asked.

She wanted to know why he was so desperate to do it as soon as possible.

"Because for the spell we need a full moon which is in 2 days. And we also need the direct descendants from the original 7 bloodlines. I have a Poldark, a Barry, a BosRoq and a Deep water all converging on New Orleans before the full moon. Raf will take the role of the Paxon. The only thing missing are a Crescent and a Malraux. But with you and your aunt Keelin in New Orleans we will have the full set. As you can imagine it is was quite a logistical nightmare for me to arrange the gathering of all of the 7. So it has to be in 2 days. And you'll be done before the end of the weekend. And will have plenty of time to study for your finals." He said making a compelling case for such a close dead line.

"Fine. But what exactly will we be doing." She asked. All throughout their conversation he hadn't exactly been forthcoming about the details of her involvement.

A trait he had seemed to retain over the past 5 years.

"I'll explain that later when everyone is gathered so I don't have to repeat myself. All you have to do is be in New Orleans tomorrow. I've already charted a Private jet for you at west field airport leaving tomorrow around noon." He said revealing how far his presumptions went.

He had truly planned all of it from the get go. But she didn't know what part he was playing.

"And what will you be doing?"

"I still have some business to attend to." He responded being intentionally vague "And Raf and I still have some family bonding to do. But we'll make our way to New Orleans before the full moon. I'll see you then."

"Fine." She agreed to his request

And before anything else could be said he cast another devilish smile before he speed away. Leaving her alone on the roof of the pub. He had gotten what he wanted from her.

Without his presences there her senses came back to her as she was no longer blinded by her emotions. She was able to retrospect and she had realized she had failed in enacting her aunt Rebekah's advice. Instead she had been coaxed into agreeing to help him out on his mission to upset the balance of nature.

Everyone had a plan until they were punched in the face. And Duncan had nasty right hook by the way he managed to throw her for a loop even though her guard was up. She hadn't gotten the closure and she had inadvertently postponed it.

And there was a lot she had to say before it was all over. But that would require her to see him again. Which she would do in a couple of days. And instead of being blindsided by his random appearance she would be prepared the next time they meet.

* * *

New Orleans. She was born in this city as was her mother. And as for her father he built the city from a back water penal colony into a one-time bastion of civilization over 300 years ago before it burned down a 100 years ago. And then her step brother Marcel built it back up from the ashes turning it into one of the greatest cities in the world.

Her family had a lot of history in that city. But at the moment they were all scattered across the globe. The only family she had at that moment was her aunt Keelin and her cousin Adrian. But they had sent him away to go live with his biological father for a while.

Because the Mikaelson compound was about to be turned into the staging ground for a conclave hoping to achieve history.

She had arrived the previous day. And since then she had been bombarded by question from the local werewolves. News seemed to have gone around that several members of the original 7 packs were sniffing around. Some even feared a Paxon might show up.

Tess had done tremendous work trying to rehabilitate the packs image but over a millennial of infighting had made countless people cautious of them. And she had done her best to mitigate the rumors floating around trying to keep an air of secrecy.

What they were planning to do wasn't exactly something that they wanted to broadcast all over the world. It would make a lot of people cautious about upsetting the balance forcing them to try and intervene.

Hope wasn't even sure of what they were going to do, but at the very least she was going to facilitate a meeting. And Duncan had scheduled one for very early in the morning so he could explain with everyone present.

The staging ground for their early morning meeting was Rousseau's. It was neutral ground because Hope wasn't exactly the biggest fan of allowing Duncan an all access pass into the Mikaelson compound until he was more forthcoming.

The bar that she had spent most of preteen years in whenever she had been back to New Orleans. It usually opened at 10 but her family owned it. So they could have their meeting there.

When she and Keelin arrived she found Duncan and Raf already there sharing a drink. In the morning, perpetuating the stereotype of Irish. She knew they were related but the 2 seemed to be fast friends by the way they were laughing together. But with their arrival it drew their attention as she and Keelin walked over to the table while they finished of their drinks.

"Keelin this is Rafael and Duncan Walsh." She introduced her aunt to the 2 Paxons.

Raf had long since dropped the Waithe name and picked up the Walsh name embracing his Paxon heritage. While Duncan had always been a Walsh never a Grayson.

"Hi." Raf sheepishly greeted her aunt first shaking her hand. And there was no animosity between them. In over 5 years of her friendship she had avoided introducing the two in fear of the awkwardness of their meeting. But now that they had meet there was barley any tension between them.

When Duncan offered his hand she only stared in to his shades that obstructed his eyes. Rejecting shaking his hand.

"You look just like him." Keelin said as she looked at Duncan. Where there had been no animosity with Raf she was initially hostile to him and with good reason. He had absorbed all of the tension that was there between Keelin and the Paxons.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He replied brushing of her hostility with a cocky joke.

"It's not." Keelin replied not letting up her hostility.

"Well that's a shame. Just for the record I may look like him but I am not my brother." He said in his defense.

"From what I've heard your worse. It's why I don't have a problem with him." She said nodding over to Raf. "I have a problem with you, because not only do you look like him your walking in his footsteps."

"Against vampires not our own." He justified himself.

That seemed to be his excuse for committing monstrous acts. That it was okay as long as he was doing it to other monsters.

"You have more in common with them than us." Keelin brought up his hybrid nature. Because for a person who was part vampire he hated them with a passion.

"But I was born a werewolf and I know the plight. So let's just put personal grievances aside. And accomplish something for the greater good." He replied choosing to change the conversation instead of facing confrontation.

"How exactly do you intend on breaking the curse?" Hope asked getting down to business.

"I assume everyone is aware of the sun and the moon curse."

"What?" Raf asked confused and disappointed.

"We're all a part of the 7 we don't believe in such fairy tales." Keelin stated.

Only werewolves that weren't apart of the original 7 packs ever believed in the curse of the sun and the moon. The original packs were too deeply tied to their history to ever believe such false hoods.

"Please don't tell me your whole entire plan was relaying on the myth my father created to break his hybrid curse?" Hope asked disappointed by his answer

Her father had been the one to create the myth to enlist both vampires and werewolves to help him find the ingredients necessary to break the hybrid curse. Which he had accomplished 23 years ago. And word had circulated to most in the supernatural know about the falsehood of the curse.

She couldn't believe Duncan was dumb enough to think that the curse had any merit. Because if he did he had wasted all of their time. All of his grand ambitions of breaking the curse were for naught.

"Yes it does. You see without realizing it your father's fabrication held some truth to it. He was around a thousand years ago before the history of the curse was truly lost in myth and speculation. He must have heard a story or 2 that inspired him to make up the myth of the sun and the moon curse when he was seeking to break his hybrid curse. And once you knock out the entire nonsense with the vampire species breaking the werewolf curse is the eerily similar to breaking hybrid curse." He concluded.

"My father needed the blood of vampire and werewolf. The moonstone that bound the curse along with a witch using the power of the apex of the moon. All tied together with the blood of a doppelganger. Even if you knock out the vampire how exactly do those break the werewolf curse?"

"Those were all ingredients that created the hybrid curse in the first place. I'm suggesting that we use the ingredients that created the werewolf curse. And since we know the true genesis of the werewolf species we know how it all began. An all-powerful Native American witch channeled the power of the moon and her death to cast a spell that would turn the members of her coven into the forebears of the 7 original packs. So it would stand to reason that we need the blood of the direct descendants of the original 7 packs and a witch to channel the power of the original witch that cast the spell as well as the power of the apex moon. And then we can break the curse once and for all." He boldly declared.

There was reason and logic behind his conclusion but Hope was still analyzing the full ramifications of his actions.

"Is that even possible?" Keelin asked deferring to Hope who was the only witch among them.

"Yes it is. But if we undo the werewolf curse that way there will no longer be any werewolves. They will just turn into witches." She informed them.

The spell had been cast onto a coven of witches and to undo it meant to undo the entire werewolf species as a whole turning them all back into witches.

"And not everyone sees being a werewolf as a burden. Some consider it a gift we just can't take it away from all of them." She continued.

A lot of people considered the werewolf curse an actual curse. And others considered it a deep rotted part of their heritage. They may have all been descended from witches but over the past 1000 years they had become werewolves and to erase that all. Seemed wrong to her.

"We're not. When we break the curse we will break it in such a way that anyone can still stay true to their werewolf heritage." He said stating the impossible.

More than vampires, werewolves couldn't become witches despite still being alive. Whenever there was a child between a werewolf and a witch the child would always be a werewolf. Because the werewolf gene was more dominant than that of the witch. It was why there were no werewolf-witch hybrids. It was more impossible than werewolf-vampire hybrid or even a witch-vampire hybrid.

"And how exactly will we do that?" Keelin asked still skeptical.

"With the blood of a werewolf that is capable of not only controlling their transformation but also capable of using magic. Fortunately for us one was born 22 years and 4 days ago." He nodded over to Hope "And we will bind all of that together with the blood of a doppelganger. Which is on its way. So every single werewolf on earth will be able to keep their werewolf nature and have the powers of a witch." He proclaimed.

And there was nary a flaw in his plan. He had covered most of his bases. And it was actually possible to accomplish. But as she contemplated on it she realized how far reaching the consequences of his proposal were. She had originally thought that all of this had been a ploy to get werewolves to the top of the food chain so he could enlist them to could eradicate the vampire species. She hadn't honestly considered that he was doing it out of his good graces despite him saying so. But now she saw what his true goal was. And why he had invest so much into planning it.

"Not just werewolves. It will also give hybrids the powers of a witch." Breaking the curse would provide a loophole enabling hybrids to use magic "So that's why you're doing all of this? For more power." She accused him disappointed in him. She had been wise enough not to give him the benefit of the doubt. But she had still been disappointed by his failure at altruism. He was just using the whole entire scenario to benefit his own ends.

And he chuckled at her accusation.

"I'm capable of doing things for more than one reason. And it really doesn't matter we'll be empowering werewolves all over globe and for future generations. I just happen to be one of them. Unless anyone has problem with me benefiting from the greater good we are about to do?" He asked them.

Raf had no problem with his uncle's manipulation so of course he agreed. And as much as she was growing to hate him and Keelin already disliked him. They weren't going to leave an entire species cursed just to spite him. So they reluctantly agreed.

But what they required was going to take copious amounts of preparation. But Duncan had already taken care of most of it. Taking into account every precaution they would need to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible. But there were still somethings they had to take care of. They had to find the spot that Inadu died in. So that they could channel her through the ground of her original death.

* * *

She and Duncan left Keelin and Raf back at the compound where everyone was going to gather. There were a lot of people involved in the whole entire preparation. And as they went on their search Inadu's hallowed ground. She found herself curious as to how Duncan had arranged the entire thing.

"How exactly did you enlist a Bennet witch into helping you?" She asked. He had gotten some heavy weight witches to help in the spell.

Hope had once met the last of the Bennets a long time ago. Bonnie had been a part time teacher at the school when she was there. And there had been a time before she was born when her father was her mortal enemy. Bonnie was an old school type of witch that truly believed in keeping the balance so she was very surprised that Duncan was able to coax her into breaking that balance. She was not a person to be easily bargained with.

"Over my travels during the years a talisman had come into my possession. It belonged to Bonnie's grandmother and since it held no sentimental value to me I offered to exchange it for her help in assisting you for the spell. I was even able to bargain for the blood of the last doppelganger with that." He explained.

Hope had been aware of the connection the last Bennet had with the last doppelganger. It had been the reason why Bonnie had come into conflict with her family. Bonnie had been trying to protect her friend Elena Gilbert from her father using her as a sacrifice to break the hybrid curse.

It seemed the friendship went both ways since Elena was willing to help her friend gain a talisman that held sentimental value to her.

"And what about the coven you enlisted?" She asked. She couldn't quite picture an entire coven agreeing to throw the balance of nature into chaos just to help an unrelated witch get a talisman.

"I made a lot of friends over the years." He answered causing her to scoff.

"You don't have friends."

Before he was never the most sociable guy. And even then the friends he did have he pushed them away. He may have gained social skills in that time but it didn't mean he had friends. It just meant it was easier for him to manipulate people and use them. She had gotten a crash course of that by the way he tried to cozy up to her friends to get to her or the way he tried to charm her aunt Keelin. Raf was probably the only genuine friend he had and that was just because they were family.

"Fine. Allies. I've accumulated a number of them over the years. A byproduct of eradicating vampire menaces all over the world. This particular coven although powerful was having a tough time dealing with the large number of vampires that were plaguing their community. I showed up, did what I do best." He explained proud of his conquests "And by the end of it they were indebted to me. And you know how witches are about paying their debts. So we are all on the same team." He explained triggering her.

They would never be on the same team.

"You and I have too much history to be on the same team. I'm on the team that's trying to help werewolves all around the world. And you're on your own team trying to make yourself more powerful. Unfortunately the goals are intertwined. And I know the faster we do this the faster you leave and go back to being a globetrotting war monger." She snapped at him. She knew that was the logical conclusion of all of this, he'd leave her for his darker impulses.

"What makes you so sure that I want to leave?" He asked still retaining his cavalier attitude.

"Because you've done it before." She answered.

And he did it in the worst way possible.

That statement seemed to wipe out all of the obnoxious mirth he had had. His face fell removing the smug smile that had become a fixture of his face. For the first time since he came back he had dropped the jovial façade.

"Look I know I leaving the first time hurt you." He replied with the seriousness the conversation required.

He was gearing up for an apology. But she didn't want an apology. Because it wasn't worth a damn thing.

"That's the thing you don't how hurt I was. Because you weren't there. I told you my biggest fear that night when I opened my self-up to and let you in. And that morning when I woke up and you were gone. My biggest fear had come to pass. I was so hurt in the months afterwards I shut everyone out. I isolated myself because I didn't ever want to feel that pain again. And while you were going around globetrotting as far away from me as possible. I was slowly building myself back up again from the pieces you left in shambles and trying to work through my abandonment issues. And it took me a long while to get over everything. So keep your apologies to yourself once all of this is done so are we." She informed him.

It was her version of making peace with him.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" He asked trying to rouse some doubt in her.

"Yes." She answered.

There was still a lot left unsaid between them. But closure was a made up thing used to sell movies. And that was the closest she was going to get to it.

* * *

They spent the last of their time together bringing together everything for the ritual to break the werewolf curse.

They all gathered on the hallowed ground that Inadu had died on to begin the curse. They had direct descendants of all the 7 that curse had afflicted. They had powerful witches that linked themselves together so they could channel each other to bolster their power. They were already going to channel spot of Inadu's death. But they needed all of that power.

When the hollow had cast the original spell it had required vast amount of power. And they were going to need even more than that to break it, because the curse had taken root into every single person with the werewolf gene all over the world. And it required vast amounts of power to break the curse all over the world. Not to mention bind the entire werewolf population to retain their werewolf abilities while also being able to use magic.

The blood of all of the 7 was used and linked with the blood of the doppelganger to tie it all together along with Hope's nature of being able to control her transformation and magic.

When the moon reached its apex all of the wolves that were starting to turn resisted the urge to turn making the whole entire process much more difficult and painful while also giving the witches the time to complete the ritual.

And after 30 minutes of pain and suffering it all ended. And the curse was broken once and for all. And it had actually worked.

She saw it first hand when she saw Raf blow a couple of leaves away with his new found powers and the glee on his face was priceless.

When she turned to see Duncan in the spot where he had been an observer during the entire ritual. She noticed he was gone.

He got what he came for and he left. Off to either get himself killed or more likely slaughter any poor vampire that crossed his path. Either way he was gone.

And unlike that morning when she had woken up alone she was not surprised he was gone. But she was disappointed all the same.

* * *

Everything had gone exactly as planned. He was now able to use magic. He could sense the earth around him. But the most striking thing had been the excess magic still in the air after the completion of the spell.

It had undone powerful magic that had afflicted werewolves making them incapable of using magic. It was truly rare and magical occurrence that could only ever happen once in nature. It had made A Nexus Vorti above all others. Which created so much power that when channeled it could make near impossible spells possible. And he needed all of that power to accomplish what he had been planning to do.

In fact he needed even more power than that. And he had it. And was now able to use it all without the need of a witch because he had become one himself. And he was planning on becoming even more.

He had all the ingredients necessary to make him into the true apex predator of every supernatural creature that had ever walked the earth. He was going to be stronger than the strongest, faster than the fastest and more powerful than the most powerful.

He had the blood of a Bennett, the direct descendants of Qetsiyah. He had the blood of a Mikaelson witch. A reverse engineered and improved super venom from the 7 packs. All tied together by the blood of the last doppelgänger.

5 years of him planning all culminating into him becoming a god. But he didn't get there on his own. He stood on the shoulders of giants to propel himself further than they ever would have dreamed.

From Qetsiyah and Ester Mikaelson all the way to the ancient vampires that had been plotting their rise. He had spent the past 5 years reverse engineering their work incorporating and improving all previous version of the immortality spell into a version of his own design. Far more powerful than any that had come before it.

And it was finally in his grasp as he started to channel all of the power of the Nexus Vorti added with the power of the ancient vampires he had collected over the years and was now using as extra power to fuel the spell.

With the spell complete he didn't choose to marvel at his accomplishment. Instead he got to work on his next task. Because a long time ago he had realized for however long it took for him to accomplish his goal it meant that someone else could accomplish it. It had already been done before by Lucien Castle and Ester Mikealson. He wasn't the first to cast a version of the immortality spell as evidence by the previous inspirations for his spell.

And now that he was going to be truly immortal it would only be a matter of time before someone else followed in his footsteps to become the apex predator above him. So with all his new found and amplified power he shut the door behind him. So that there could never be another like him.

He had closed the loophole in nature that made it possible for another like him to be created.

There would only ever be one Fenrir. The wolf that would swallow the sun and kill the gods, putting the an end to the vampire species.

* * *

 **AN:** And Duncan's is officially in Gary Stu territory. I promise, despite turning him into an Original Tribrid, I will avoid turning him into a further Gary, so he won't take off his sunglasses and reveal he now has vibrant purple eyes that turns any girl he gazes at into a concubine he will add to his massive harem.

I had this concept for lore to further flesh out the history of the werewolf species. It involved Inadu's mother being the progenitor of the crescent wolf pack while her father was the progenitor of the paxon clan. The two were in an arranged marriage to combine their covens, a nice wholesome love affair ensued between the two even though they were in an arranged marraige, they had daughter together the loved very much, despite the warnings from the elders the father loved his daughter to much see past their little girl and see the monster she was becoming as the days passed but her mother was quick to see it and could do very little about it becasue of her husband, then Inadu went to far becoming the hollow and the elders stepped in seeking to put an end to her before she became too powerful, Inadu escaped the elders by the help of her father but would later be hunted down by her mother and when brought back to the village for her execution the father tried to intervene again but was stopped held down by several men and the mother although reluctant and heart broken to strike her daughter down was quick with the axe killing Inadu. The father's anger at his wife for killing their daughter and anger at himself for being too weak to save his daughter was so vast it turned to a blinding rage that took over him and he slew several members of the other families that made up the coven and would later make up the 7 packs. The love was lost between husband and wife leading to the end of their marriage and the beginning of hatred between their two families and the father along with his family banished from the coven turned pack because of his slaughter of members from the other packs.

Future generations of crescents were the fastest because the mother was so quick to kill her daughter, while future generations paxons are the strongest and angriest becuase it took several men to hold the father from saving his daughter and his anger because of it turned into a warriors madness. Paxons are also the most warred with pack beacuse the father slaughtered the progenitors of the other 5 packs and the hatred between the mother and the father for slaying their daughter.

And when the vikings came to America the werewolf gene was passed to them. At one point there was a werewolf with vast rage issues(Paxon) who had been captured by a group of werewolves and vampires working together to do population control to the paxon scourge. On the night of the full moon he despite being restrained escaped and devoured vampires the servants of the sun and werewolves the servants of the moon, years later that same wolf would meet Mikael and end up like everyone that went against Mikael without plot amour. As time went on that story was turned to the myth of Fenrir eating the sun and the moon along with everything in his path before being killed by odin

All of those are just cool concepts i thought of but didn't know where to add into the story.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:** The aftermath of Duncan's machinations through the P.O.V. of Hope and Duncan.

* * *

Life kept moving forward. One day at a time. It was funny that way. That no matter how much the balance had been upset, that the world kept turning. For the first time in over a thousand years werewolves were able to use magic. They had all in a sense become hybrids of the werewolf-witch variety. And consequently they had all become top dogs in the food chain and not just for one day. But things were still relatively normal.

Marcel hadn't appreciated the social upheaval she had caused. It had infuriated him that over the course of one night she had turned the delicate balance of New York City and other supernatural communities like it on its head, all most endangering it. But the charismatic king was no stranger to werewolf uprising that tended happen when ever werewolves got power. And as arguably the most powerful supernatural creature under the sun, Marcel still had power and leverage to negotiate with the empowered werewolves.

And while Marcel was dealing with the ramifications of Hope's actions as he always did, Hope continued enjoying the final days of her undergraduate career. Despite the disruption and inevitable disappearance of Duncan, Hope moved forward with her date with Jay once her finals were over.

She was officially done with school. All that was left was for her to graduate. It was the true end of an era.

Unlike her birthday it was a once in a life time celebration so all of her family was coming. They were all going to be there for her graduation day but it was logistically impossible for all of them to be at the ceremony. So instead they had planned a graduation party for later in the day.

Tess and Marcel had been kind enough to foot the bill for the entire event. So that Hope, Raf and all of their friends could invite their friends and family. A party with a rather large guest list thrown in a rather luxurious hotel. And not the only party thrown that day. Jay had his own party to attend with friends of his. As did many other students that were graduating that day. But Jay had promised to swing by theirs.

But that was hours away at the moment she was getting ready with her friends for the graduation ceremony.

As the end of an era it was also the last time they would see each other for a while. Allison was flying out to L.A. the following week while Aliyah was also flying out to Hawaii for vacation. Hope herself was planning on going back home for the summer before she began her Masters. Allison and Aliyah would also be back before the end of summer.

Allison was planning on making her mark on the big apple with her fancy Columbia degree. While Aliyah was also planning on gaining her masters. The girl was determined to earn the credentials of Dr. before she finished her education.

Hope herself wasn't sure if she would pursue a doctorate but she would figure it out by the time she finished her masters.

After getting ready for the ceremony they spent the next 3 hours of their lives attending the ceremony in their gowns. They listened to speaker after speaker give their speeches. All until they were handed their degrees.

Tiny pieces of paper that represented 4 years of strenuous study.

Hope had managed to graduate with Magna Cum Laude as did Allison and Nick. While Raf simply graduated with Cum Laude and Aliyah graduated with Summa Cum Laude, the highest of honors.

So it was a really exciting time for all of them. And they continued their festive mood onto the graduation party with all of their family and friends.

A party that involved a lot of heavy weight supernatural creatures. But that was only Hope and Raf's family.

The entire Mikaelson clan was there Kol, Davina, Freya, Keelin, Adrian, Marcel and Rebekah. While on Raf's side it was Tess and Jeremy Gilbert. Apparently he and Tess had a thing and he had become a sort of older brother to Raf as he had Duncan.

Landon was there as well because it was his graduation party as well since he had graduated a few days ago.

Dr. Saltzman had intended to come see his favorite and most troublesome students but he had been held up by a last minute emergency.

As for the rest of the guest list they were all human and normal. It was a nice and proper celebration and Hope had been seriously enjoying herself.

There were very few instances when she enjoyed parties and this had been one of them. She was able to catch up with family and hang out with her friends celebrating their achievements. There was nothing that could ruin it for her. Until an uninvited specter caught her eye at the entrance.

No, no, no, no. Not here. Not now. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be a continent away on one of his rampages. Hunting down vampires anywhere but this city. But instead he was here in a room with vampires and not the garden variety. She suspected his new powers would bolster his ego and make him think he could take on the entire world. But not them. Rebekah's words echoed in her mind 'He doesn't have the power of Mikael and will get himself killed'. Even with his new powers it was certain death to challenge her family.

But he had never feared death before. And that was his biggest problem he didn't care if he died. But even after everything Hope still did. Even after he had abandoned her twice but she still wanted to save him. If not for any other reason than she didn't want his blood on her family's hands. But luckily another person that cared about him intervened. And Tess was livid as she marched over to him.

"What is he doing here?" Hope asked Raf who also seemed surprised that Duncan was there.

"I don't know. I didn't even tell him about this party." He informed her which was suprising.

"Trouble in paradise? I thought you had become as thick as thieves?" She asked. Remembering the drinking binge the two had gone on less than 2 weeks ago.

They had gone on a family bonding road trip while Hope had to traverse towards New Orleans alone with her thoughts of Duncan plaguing her.

"Yeah that was when I thought he was in town for like a day or two. Just passing by. And I was unsure if I'd see him again for a while. But things are different when he keeps popping back up. You're not the only one with some unresolved issues with him." He answered, Raf was like his uncle in as ense that they rarely expressed their feelings, but after spending months with Raf she could see the subtle hints of his discomfort. It seemed he hadn't truly resolved his issues with Duncan, but that didn't mean she was in the same boat as him.

"Our issues are resolved." She informed him.

She had gotten her closure or as close as she could with him, his jovial persona was hard to get through since she knew it was just a façade and the single real moment without levity was too much for her to bare so she instantly shut it down and tried to get her closure. But seeing him again was starting to open the wound she thought she healed.

"Of course they are." Raf replied sarcastically not believing her but also choosing not to call her out on her obvious delusion.

He was right, but it earned him a look of contempt, the only way she could ever move forward was knowing that chapter in her life was finally closed.

* * *

In the 22 years of his life and after life on the earth. He had never been on the top of the invite list at any party. And that's usually because he was never the life of the party. Some might even consider him a killjoy. The last parties he had attended over the past 2 years involved him literally killing the joy when he crashed a party filled with ancient vampires.

But this one was different, the vampires would live through the night and nearly a week. It was a party for family and friends and he happened to be family. But the moment he showed up he was stopped from proceeding further into the party.

"What are you doing here?" Tess asked with false civility. Hoping to prevent a scene, which was unnecessary.

"I thought you'd be happy to see me here? Most people rejoice when one of their own returns to the fold." He responded. The last tiem they had seen each other was not the best of times, but he ahd hoped it would be water under the bridge. It wouldn't have been the first time she forgave him for his atrocious acts.

"Yes most don't worry about one of their burning down the fold. So I'll ask again. Why are you here?" She continued to ask.

"Would it be within the realm of possibility that I'm here for our nephew's graduation." He answered. It was a half-truth he knew no one would believe but would ultimately have to accept.

"No it would be in the realm of possibility. For anyone else but not you. As evidence by the past 5 years." She said throwing it in his face. And rather hypocritical considering she had ghosted him for 4 years before.

"In my defense I was preoccupied." He answered with the petty excuse she had given him.

"So what finally cleared up your schedule?" She asked still accusing him of having duplicitous motive.

"Like I said Raf's graduation." He answered still keeping jovial tone.

"I still don't believe you." Tess had always seemed to have a 6th sense when it came to his deceitfulness, he had spent years trying to combat it and failed when she could always discern his intentions just by looking in his eyes, but she couldn't know now with his glasses on or the fact that what he was planning was far beyond conventional.

"Well then it seems we are stuck in an impasse." He joked, she had nothing on him but a gut instinct and that would never know wat he was truly planning.

"It would seem so. Which means I'm left with having to give you the benefit of the doubt." She said, offering it reluctantly to family where she otherwise would not "Until I figure out what you are planning. Which is probably both foolish and dangerous. Then I'm going to put a stop to it. Once that is out of the way you and I still have the matter of your penance to discuss. And while all of this plays out I expect you to be a perfect gentleman with manners. Any deviation from that will result in a disproportional retribution fueled by the seething untenable rage you have caused me over the past 5 years." She threatened him. His only defense being that when he made his escape form the Salvatore boarding house and locked her up in the trunk of a car while stole he private jet, that he was under the influence of his emotions being off.

"I don't appreciate the threat sis." He replied. He was deserving of it but it was still not welcomed.

"And I don't appreciate my pain in the ass little brother. But here we are. Do we understand each other?" She asked with a false smile. Always the diplomat.

"Fine I'll be on my best behavior. It's not even like I was planning on killing anyone in this room." He responded with a smile that dropped her own false smile. "That was a joke."

"A rather unfunny and inappropriate one considering our company." The entire original family of vampires or what was left of it. Vampires that were mostly ancient and all of them more powerful and unkillable than the common ancient vampire. A breed he had slaughtered all through out every single continent, but he had never killed an original, before he had never had the power to do so "And your lack of comedic timing better worst thing you do today. Or so help me god." She threatened him again.

"Message received loud and clear. Am I dismissed?" He asked and she simply answered by stepping aside allowing him to enter the party. She had a lot more to say to him after 5 years apart and 4 years prior to that, but she was going to waste her time on a goose chase looking for what he was planning. Nothing he was willing to say would dissuade that notion so he saved his breath while she wasted her time.

As he made his way in he saw another person that might have some words to say to him so he took the initiative of trying to offer an olive branch. When last they spoke he couldn't resist rubbing it in Landon's face that the one thing he had been envious of Landon for was lost to Landon presumably forever.

"Landon so good to see you again." He said walking over to Landon who was in a group of people "Can I assume that all previous grievances are water under the bridge?" He asked. Wanting to bury hatchet and move forward. When he tried the last time it didn't work out, but he was oddly optimistic about it this time.

"Screw you." Landon responded walking away

"Well you can't say I didn't try." He replied looking over the group of people as he started to introduce himself.

After a bit of conversation with the group he excused himself. Being the perfect gentleman with manners that his sister wanted him to be. When he was walking away he encountered another person with a burning desire to chew him out.

"For a man of your reputation I expected someone taller." Rebekah Mikaelson said as she walked over to him.

It wasn't open to interpretation what she actually meant by it. He knew it wasn't praise for his reputation but a slight for his height. And not a rather effective on considering he was 6 foot 1, a height he had once been superior to Raf but changing time had caused him to be the shorter of the two.

"A tragic side effect of being cut down in my prime. I'm surprised that the petty squabbles of children reached the ears of one as pristine and remarkable as you." He responded choosing to complement her.

"You will find that flattery from the likes of you has the opposite effect than intended." She said slightly annoyed by his presence although she came to him.

"Well do forgive me I was trying to give respect to my elders. My sister advised I remain on my best behavior." He had done more than enough to piss Tess off but she wouldn't be able to hold that against him.

"Then you have already failed." She replied with her hostility towards him slipping out even more.

"I'm sorry have I wronged you in some way?" He asked.

"Oh if you ever wronged me in some way I'd have you strung up by your innards. Fortunately for you haven't done that. But you have wronged my darling niece who I care very deeply for. And were it not for her I would make sure you experience suffering not even the devil could stomach. So when next you see her thank her for every breath you draw instead of abandoning her." She said as she intentionally brushed past him.

"I'll do my best." He responded as she walked.

It was a tough crowed that he was in par for the course for the former heir to the paxons.

* * *

Duncan was walking around without a single care in the world. It was a rather large hall they were in so while he was at one end of the hall they were on the other. It wasn't that they were actively avoiding him it was just that they were sitting in one table, without moving. She, Raf and Landon were the only ones there since most of their friends made the rounds.

Tess walked over to them after conversing with Jeremy. A hopeful deterrent to Duncan's shenanigans.

"My brother is planning something. Unfortunately I don't know what which means instead of enjoying this joyous occasion I have to thwart his plans." She explained to her nephew. Someone that had study so hard to gain her approval only to be thwarted by Duncan's reappearance "Hopefully it is not a brazen attack on your family. So I am currently tasked with finding out what ever subterfuge he has planned." She turned to Hope "But if my brother chooses to disappointed me further by making a foolish and open play for your family. I will not blame them for any harm they cause to him but please ask them not to kill him. I'll do the job myself." There was a seriouseness in her tone that made Hope worry for Duncan's safety if he tried anything as Tess informed her as she turned back to Raf "As for you Raf intervene if he tries anything direct, while I thwart any indirect attack he has planned. But all of you please keep your eyes on him." She asked them as she went off to stop her brother's apparent yet mysterious scheme.

But she didn't have to ask them to keep their eye on him. Nobody trusted him there. Especially since he remained so jovial in room of people that didn't want him there. Chief among them being her but she wasn't afraid of him. And she wasn't actively avoiding him, so she went to the bar where he seemed to be stationed when she wanted a drink.

"Do you wear those ridiculous glasses everywhere?" She asked coming close enough to see that he was wearing the same pair of glasses that never seemed to leave his face. "Scotch please." She asked the bartender. She wanted to set a time limit for her interaction with him and leave once her drink arrived.

"I understand the animosity towards me but that's no reason to insult the glasses. We both know they are kind of cool." He responded gleefully at the glasses. Making her hate his cavalier and jovial façade even more. He was unrecognizable to the boy she had fallen in love with all of those years ago. She knew it was another mask he replaced his anger and indifference with.

"It doesn't mean you have to wear them everywhere."

"They were a gift from a Ugandan ruler I helped with some humanitarian aid." He responded deliberately misleading her. His statement was innocent enough, if she didn't know the new him better.

"That doesn't sound like you." She accused him.

"Fine it was a Ugandan warlord I helped with his vampire problem." He said coming clean.

"Of course you did." She responded unsurprised but disappointed by his admission because that is all he ever seemed to do. "Try not to attempt it here your already on thin ice with everyone." The warning was a courtesy

"I wouldn't dream of it." He responded as her drink arrived.

As she promised herself that was where their conversation ended and she left him there. There wasn't much she wanted to say to him besides that warning.

* * *

"You got a lot balls showing your face in my city." Marcel Gerard stated while Duncan was still sitting at the bar. He stayed in that position open to all visitors and critics alike.

"I'm just in town for my nephew's graduation. I'll be gone in less than a week." He informed him courteously despite Marcel's obvious distaste with Duncan.

"You shouldn't even be here to begin with." He returned the courtesy with open hostility.

"I don't understand the hostility towards a guest in your city. Have I done something to offend you?" He asked still maintaining his jovial tone. But no matter how affable he was it never seemed to be reciprocated

"A lot actually like that mess you left in Jersey." Marcel answered

"I'm sorry I was under the impression that Jersey was out of your rule. Which is why I've made sure not to violate your rules within the bounds of this city." He informed him.

He didn't want to cause trouble, quite the opposite and to achieve that he had stopped himself from killing any vampires. He had been confronted by some in the time he had been there but had only left them with broken necks.

"My rules are meant to keep a delicate balance of peace. Ever since you showed up you have done nothing but endangered that peace. That mess you left in Jersey created a power vacuum and the chaos that ensued almost spilled out onto my city. Then there was that whole business with you turning every single wolf in the world into a hybrid. Messing with the balance again. And now showing up back in my city knowing full well were ever you go a warzone soon follows. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to make a move on my city." Marcel's conclusion were incorrect, and his methodology was flawed.

New Jersey had nothing to do with him and wasn't a part of Duncan's grand strategy. There was just vampire there that was on Duncan's specific hit list of targets. The vampire just happened to be close to New York. And wasn't there because he wanted to turn the city into a war zone. He was there for the sake of being there and looking her in the eyes when he planned to make his dreams a reality.

"Well I can assure in a week's time I will leave your city the way I found it with no blood on my hands. And I will do my best not give you any reason to kill. Does that sound fair?" He asked offering an olive branch.

"You've already given me plenty of reason to kill you already." Marcel responded rejecting the olive branch.

"I assume those are about more than just being about your city?" He asked realizing that the hostility may have been caused by something personal.

"You killed a friend of mine." He answered.

"If they were a vampire I probably did. I've killed a lot of those as you know." He joked knowing his reputation preceded him. But his joke was unappreciated "Would you friend happen to have a name?" He asked hoping to alleviate the tension.

"Sofya Vornova." He responded.

Now that was a name Duncan knew rather intimately.

"Brunette 5'7 looks like a Russian super model." He asked describing her and Marcel nodded in agreement with the description "Yeah our paths crossed 2 years ago in Kazakhstan. But I was being presumptuous. I didn't kill her." He informed him.

"You're lying." Your lying Marcel responded in misguded disbelief.

"Oh no she is very much alive from the last time I saw her. Despite my reputation for leaving no survivors once in a while someone happens to escape. But they usually go into hiding soon afterwards. They become ghost that are impossible for me to find." A lie no one could ever prove. He knew where to find the sexy ancient vampire "So to my knowledge your friend is still alive." Which was a half-truth she was his most prized ancient vampire that he kept nearly desiccated in a separate location form all the others. She was kept starving to keep her weak, but fed to keep him feed with information. She was young by ancient standards but proved to be a nice cache of information on the underground vampire network that allowed him to track down specific targets all over the world

"And you have one less reason to kill me." He said looking on the bright side of the information he provided Marcel

"I still have plenty of reasons. And one of those happens to be the reason you're still alive. Because that girl whose heart you broke wouldn't want me to kill you in cold blood. So for her sake I'm going to keep letting you breathe. But if you hurt her again or you're still here a week from now. I will hunt you down like a dog and do the world a favor by putting you down." He threatened him walking away as Rebekah had done previously

He considered all of the attempt at intimidation juvenile. Because Marcel wasn't the last of Hope's family to threaten him. Only 3 members of the Mikaelson clan had chosen not to let their displeasure with him known. Her aunt Davina and her cousin Adrian as well as Hope who had been on the other side of the room along with Raf for most of his time at the party. He wasn't going to pressure her into talking to him but he made himself available as he sat near the bar.

"Are you in the grievance line as well?" He asked noticing Aliyah approach him. The brown skinned girl he had previously used as a pawn. She was beautiful, but she wasn't Hope.

"Not really. But I am curious as to what exactly you did to make you so popular around here?" She asked taking a seat next to him.

"Well it's kind of a long story but the highlights are I was an edgy teenager. Burnt a lot of bridges when I left to go find myself. Now that I'm back everyone thinks I'm still the same old kid and I'm here for some nefarious purpose." He explained painting himself in a better light.

"Well are you?" She asked as less of question and more of an accusation.

"Why would you ask that?" He asked chuckling to himself, most people were correct in their assumptions because they were aware of who he was but they couldn't prove anything so it didn't matter. But Aliyah asked as though she had an inkling to havoc he would soon unleash.

"Because the last time we saw each other you were using me and my friend to get to our other friend. Now your crashing this party were it seems everyone who knows you doesn't like you that much and seems to have some grievance with you." She explained presenting her evidence.

"Well when you put it like that it sounds nefarious." He joked.

"How would you put it?"

"Well after the first time reaching out to somebody from my past. I was left in a bar by my nephew. Which I will admit made me feel kind of lonely and unwanted. And to alleviate that feeling I sought the company of two girls at that very same bar. Unbeknownst to me those girl were actually best friends with my ex. When confronted with her, I'm man enough to admit that I panicked. I thought the best for us to do in that moment was to pretend we didn't know each other to avoid all of the awkwardness and when the cat was out of the bag I took it as an opportunity to address past grievances." He framed the narrative in his favor.

"Wow that is some incredible revisionist history. It turns you from the stalking manipulative ex-boyfriend into the plucky lead of a rom com."

"I was going for more of a reformed teenage rebel looking for a second chance." He replied continuing the banter despite the slight.

"Is that why you are here now?" She asked.

"No a second chance is just far too grand of an ambition for me to have." There was no future for him and Hope after what he had done and especially after what he was going to do, but there was a chance she would forgive him before the unforgivable "I'm just here for my nephew's big day." He replied with the same lie he had been saying to everyone.

"Who's your nephew?" She asked.

"Rafael." Uttering his nephew's name changed her light hearted expression to a somber one

"Oh." She said as she contemplated the connection "It seems your nephew's avoiding you." She replied.

"Yeah for some reason he has something he wants to tell me but at the same time he really doesn't want to tell me. I think it has something to do with taking over my room while I was gone or something really personal. Either way he is avoiding me." He knew Hope would have avoided him, but she had good reason to and he didn't begrudge her that but Raf seemed to be in the same boat but as less solidarity and more just him avoiding Duncan.

"Yeah Raf was never one for confrontation." She lamented her face fell a bit more.

"Speaking from personal experience?" He asked noting the lamentation.

"Yeah. We dated for a while, but it didn't work out. I fell hard he didn't and was scared to tell me for a while. Until I had to push the why out of him and he said it was because he was still hung up on this one girl." She explained giving him the rundown of her former connection with Raf.

"He ever mention a name?" Duncan asked wondering if Raf was still hung up on Hope.

He remembered how he repressed his feelings for her when she was dating Landon. And then shortly after they broke up, there was that whole situation between her and Duncan. He wondered if that torch still burnt. Knowing the kind of person Raf was, he probably would have moved on from his feelings with the girl that had been entangled with both his brother and Uncle. But judging by whatever seemed to be eating him up it was rather personal and betrayed his convictions.

"No he didn't. Raf was always good at keeping secrets. And judging by you I guess it is a hereditary trait."

"Some might say it's a family curse." He joked hinting at their family's former burden.

Raf was a werewolf and she was human, and judging by the hushed tones everyone spoke in. Their friends weren't aware of their supernatural status.

"Well if you ever want to get over that family curse and talk to someone I'm willing to listen. I take it you don't have that many friends especially around here. And you look like a person that could use some." She offered.

"Thanks for the offer. I'll take it into consideration." He replied. He would never accept it, he had chosen to walk a lonely road and the only thing in his future was penance and suffering.

"I wonder if anyone ever believes your lies."

"They don't, but they have no other choice." He informed her as she walked away.

* * *

As time passed she had to fetch herself a drink refill. Which meant that she was going to have to go over to him since he never moved from his positon near the bar. Since last she saw a couple of people had gone over to him from Tess and Jeremy as well as most of her family. Raf had joined her in solidarity almost avoiding the bar to a fanatical level despite growing more sober.

"Well it seems like you're not the only person that dislikes me around here. In the 2 hours that I've been here I've been threatened by most of your family. So far were up to 4 threats of murder and 2 for torture bad enough to make the devil weep. Which I think are all mostly bluster. Except for your aunt Freya who threatened to hex me with impotence. Apart from her none of them would actually hurt me. They could," He said causing himself to lightly chuckle like it was a joke only he was privy to "but they won't .For the very reason they want to do all of those things to me. For your sake. And the fact that you still care about me." He said feeling on top of the world.

"I cared about you." She corrected "A lot in fact. And it was painful to learn that those feelings were not reciprocated. But I have moved passed that." She informed him, a hopeful self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Hope you should know what ever happened I really did care about you." She hated the jovial façade but she hated it even more when he dropped it. A cruel joke he told when he gave her hint of letting down his guard and showing his more vulnerable side.

"But it wasn't enough. It's why you left and you stayed away. So why are you here?" She asked.

"Everyone has been asking me that the entire. But nobody seems to believe me when I say I'm here for Raf's graduation."

"It comes with the territory of abandoning people for 5 years. And the fact that the only reason you came back last time was so you could get more power. So why are you here now?" He had come back before to coax her into making him one of 2 tribrids in the entire world. The outcome of freeing an entire species was the only reason she had accepted his machinations, but he got what he wanted, what more could he want?

"That wasn't the only reason I came back last time. I also came back because I wanted to make amends. That's why I'm back now. You're the person I hurt most by leaving and you're the one I have to make amends to the most."

"You don't owe me anything and I don't owe you anything. So were even." She couldn't move on otherwise.

"We still have a lot to talk about. A lot that's been left unsaid."

"I have nothing to say to you. Like I said I moved past that." She had gotten her own version of closure and new that complete closure for them was a fairy tale.

"And I almost believe you." He replied with a cocky smirk.

"I don't care what you believe." She responded as she saw her excuse to leave walk into the party. And without another word she left Duncan there walking over to Jay.

"Hey I'm glad you came." She said bringing him in for a brief but noticeable kiss.

She had never been one for PDA especially with a guy she had been on less than one date with but she did it anyway. In some weird way it was her way of getting back at Duncan, right in his face because she knew he was watching.

However she felt guilty using Jay like that. But she knew Jay didn't mind by the smile on his face.

"So am I." He responded once their kiss was done.

And she grabbed his hand to introduce him to a couple of people accompanying him as they made the rounds. She and Jay weren't official, but it was the closest thing she had since that night before Duncan had left her.

All through it she felt Duncan's gaze on her from time to time far more than he had in the past 2 hours. And after a while it had finally brought him out of his seemingly eternal position near the bar. He started walking over to them with a smile still on his face, but it did concern a few people as Raf tried to intervene but was dissuaded with a simple and casual "Relax" from Duncan's deep voice. But Raf being the ever dutiful peacekeeper still accompanied him just in case.

He approached the both of them. Flashing Hope a none-threatening smile.

"Hi Duncan Walsh. Nice to meet you?" He asked extending his hand for a greeting.

"Jay." He responded shaking his hand

"Jay, that's a nice and firm handshake" He complimented shaking Jay's hand. Hope had worried Duncan might crush it like some petulant alpha male but he simply let it go. "Could I have a word with Hope for a moment?" He asked Jay politely.

"Yeah sure." Jay agreed a bit unsure of what exactly was going on.

Jay was unaware that it was the ex meeting the new guy moment. Jay was a bit shorter and a lot lighter than Duncan just by appearance without taking into account the difference between a fully realized tribrid and a human. And being a sweet normal guy, she didn't want him to be intimidated by Duncan.

"Don't worry you don't have to walk that far this won't be that long." He informed him turning to Hope "Nice try. But it's not working." He said chuckling as he left without another word going back to his eternal seat.

And those 6 words had confused her. A part of her guessed what she meant but another part of her dismissed it because he would have to be a complete narcissist to mean that. Even more considering that he left thinking she would chase after him. But she let him go and went back to Jay.

But his last words still gnawed at her mind so less than 20 minutes after she went to his eternal position.

"What do you mean it's not working?" She asked as she approached him. And his seemingly bottomless glass.

"Exactly that." He casually responded.

"I'm not with him because of you if that's what you are thinking. And I am not playing whatever game you think I'm playing." She informed him. They didn't play games like that, they had never had a chance to do so before, when he was the Duncan her daddy issues made her fall in love with.

"Maybe, maybe not. A valiant effort nonetheless. Because I am a bit hurt that he looks more like Landon than a me. And despite the PDA I am aware that you only started dating him recently which is why you are still lukewarm towards him. But maybe after a while of you two getting to know each other he might make jealous."

"Oh my god you actually have become a narcissist. This has nothing to do with you and what part of I've moved on do you not understand."

"The part where you here with me instead of him, because I got into your head with a couple of words. Like I said there is still a lot left unsaid." He responded still keeping his smugness but she had a counter to that.

"And it will remain that way." She responded walking away.

She had to stop entertaining him. Every single time she talked to him his ego seemed to grow even further like he thought he was the center of her universe.

But he wasn't so she spent the rest of the party with her friends and Jay instead of a ghost form the past. Evening turned into night and with the party over they family and friends all started to part way. The adults planned to go back to their hotel rooms while the new graduates went off to a bar to continue the celebration.

Duncan had almost been left out in the cold were he belonged but Raf took pity on his uncle and invited him to the bar. And he came along but he had the decency not to cramp their style while they went to find a booth he stayed near the bar sitting on the bar stools watching a soccer game. She didn't even know if he actually like soccer or just wanted to give them space. Which infuriated her, because it reminded her of how little she knew the person that had nearly dominated her mind for over 8 years.

Inevitable they all ran out of drinks and Hope elected herself to go get the next round. She had faced her fears of him already and wanted to prove that he had no hold over her. As she ordered the round from the bar she ignored him continuing to stonewall him.

"Sooner or later you are going to have to talk to me." He said after minuets of her giving him the cold shoulder

"Not really considering you'll disappear again soon enough. It's become you M.O."

"And wouldn't you like to hash thing out before then?" He asked infuriating her.

She began to realize that it was less about closure for her sake and more about closure for his. He was still being a selfish asshole while pretending to be noble.

"It looks like you haven't been hearing me clearly. So listen and listen carefully. Whatever you and I have to talk about it doesn't matter. I've already gotten all of the closure I need thanks to finding out you had your humanity on all of this time. So if there is something you want to get of your chest. Tell a priest. Because I don't care. Not anymore. So for the last time you and I are done. We have nothing to talk about." She snapped at him as she walked away.

She'd have one of the others fetch the round. She was done seeing Duncan's face. She wasn't afraid of him or whatever confrontation they would have to have, but she was tired of seeing the face that had cause her so much distress in the past years.

But she didn't get far because on her way back to her friends something happened as seemingly all of the denizens of the bar collapsed to the floor. She herself stood long enough to see them collapse before she was overcame and collapsed to the floor.

* * *

 **AN:** I've had this written down for a while but I barely had the time to flesh it out properly, but seeing as the new season is about to being I wanted to drop this before it starts.

For those wondering about Raf, he will be playing a bigger role in the next chapter as well as the return of another character all while Duncan Hope have a heart to heart with everything on the table.

Two chapters remain in the tale of Duncan and Hope. Pun-intended Hopefully I have them out befoer the end of the month.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN:** The truth about Duncan revealed through Hope's P.O.V.

* * *

Hope had left her guard down and she had been blindside for it. When she finally regained consciousness she immediately realized she wasn't in the bar. Instead she had been transported to a familiar place. One she hadn't seen in over 4 years. But she still instantly recognized it even with all of the animal pictures hung around the walls. She was in his former principle domain where he went to either brood or rage before everything. She was in the barn.

"I tell you we have nothing to talk about and this how you respond." She immediately accused him once she stood up and saw him there casually standing. Not bothering to hide her disapproval.

"Why is it that your immediate response to blame me" Duncan said feigning innocence with his cavalier attitude "when I could be just as much of a victim of this as you are?"

"Because were in the barn!" Raf had taken over the place in her senior year but even to that day some of the students of the Salvatore Boarding School knew to stay as far away from it is possible. Duncan's ghost still haunted it "And for a so called victim you are awfully calm after just being blindsided."

"This wasn't my doing. Or else why would he be here." Duncan said nodding over to Raf who appeared on the floor.

"Uh guys. Where are we?" Raf asked confused as he came to. Duncan walked over and helped the other Paxon form the floor.

"We're in a chamber de chasse." Hope answered. "A magical mental prison meant to resemble the barn." She explained further. Raf had only recently become a witch and was still unaccustomed to magic spells and rituals.

"Okay why?" Raf asked still orienting himself to the change of venue.

"Ask Duncan." Hope said.

"I'm I seriously still your prime suspect?" Duncan asked still feigning innocence.

"Not anymore but I still think you're the cause of this." If he had wanted to force her to talk with him, he wouldn't have brought Raf into this, but his innocence was still in question "So you piss off any witches lately?"

"And why are you assuming this is my fault. When you are both stuck in here. Maybe Raf's the one who pissed of some witches" Duncan said trying to shift the blame.

A feeble attempt he made walking over to the wall, where the secret compartment was hidden.

"Not likely because we've been in New York for almost 4 years and we have never been trapped in a chamber de chasse. But you've been here on and off for less than a week." Hope said "And for some reason the people that put us in here made a mistake think Raf and I would try to save you. So we are here as collateral damage." Hope theorized "So the question is which one of your enemies did you, piss off enough to throw us in here?"

"I've made a lot of enemies over the years, but to be fair most of them are already dead." Dunca bragged of his escapades. It made her yearn for the real Duncan and not the jovial façade he was so intent on keeping "It's still a pretty big list though. It would be tough to narrow down."

"But you already know who the author of this prison is judging by your calmness over the situation." He had made himself so comfortable, even fetching himself a drink while they could be in mortal peril. While they were stuck in the prison their bodies were vulnerable.

"Yes. I already know who the author of this mental prison is." Duncan said taking a long pause and sip of the scotch. Raf had always kept the liquor cabinet stocked with same types of liquor that Duncan had always kept.

"Would you like to fill in the rest of the class?" She asked when he finished his sip but didn't continue

"Why. I'm not the only one who knows the answer. A chamber de chasse is a rather delicate and intricate magical construction. It is one of the finest forms of representational magic and requires it to be precise for it to be effective. Which means that the person who created all of this had to have intimate knowledge of all of us so that they could represent us accurately. But for some reason it was taken a step further to bring us to this place that holds a connection for all of us. Not to mention even in this precise representation the person was also able to not only replicate this secret compartment but also able to replicate the fine taste and detail of these whiskeys. The person in question must have an incredible palate to distinguish between Irish whiskeys, a connection to all of us and this place to create all of this." He explained giving the pieces to the puzzle, but not the answer, even though he had narrowed down the possible candidates to one person

"Shit." Raf whispered a curse as he probably made the same conclusions Hope did.

"Why would she do this?" She asked. Hope was a bit apprehensive to come into contact her one time roommate especially when Duncan was around.

"Why don't you ask her yourself? Enough with the theatrics show yourself." He said.

"I guess I should take it as some solace that you still remember I exist." Fiona said as an incorporeal voice before appearing in the chamber de chasse. Her formerly long and wild red hair cut short into a pixie cut, traces of the girl still remained on her face but she was a woman now. And her presence brought back feelings of guilt and awkwardness only magnified by Duncan's casual demeanor.

"How could I ever forget you Fi?" Duncan said before being promptly launched into the air by hand wave form Fiona.

"You don't get to call me that." Fiona said as he dropped to the floor.

Hope wasn't the only one to feel the awkwardness of the room as Raf showed it too.

"Of course. My bad." Duncan said as he got himself of the floor and fixed his sunglasses.

"Please don't tell me this has anything to do with what happened 5 years ago?" Hope asked.

She and Fiona hadn't left on the best of terms especially with the other girl freezing her out their entire senior year, and despite a lot being unsaid between them they had both decided on graduation day to let the sleeping dogs lie.

"Woman scorned isn't Fi's style." Raf said interjecting without being launched into the air.

"And this is less of a personal call considering Fiona doesn't have the kind of power alone that could keep the all-powerful tribrid at bay. She'd have to have her entire coven backing her up for this play. And they wouldn't do that for some petty reason like getting revenge on the ex." Duncan explained.

Hope had the power of a hundred witches and it would take an extreme amount of skill to trap her in chamber de chasse or a lot of magical juice, Fiona seemed to have both which meant Hope couldn't just break out.

"You'd be surprised my entire coven despises you." Fiona explained. And a rather plausible one considering who Duncan was façade or no façade.

"Then why are we here." Hope asked.

"I assume it has something to do with what we did in New Orleans." Duncan explained.

"The after effects of what you all did are starting are slowly being felt all around the world." Fiona said "And you 3 pissed of most of the witches in the world with your little stunt. So you are all going to be stuck in this chamber de chasse while we find a way to reverse what you did."

"Well I'm afraid you can't do that Fiona." Duncan said.

"And why not?" Fiona asked.

"Because that not how magic works, the curse is already destroyed, you can't reverse what has already been reversed." Duncan explained, although not exactly accurate. There was always a loophole

"Well we have all the time in the world to figure that out as long as you are all stuck here." Fiona said.

"That is of course as long as we don't find a way out." Duncan said.

"This isn't a regular chamber de chasse there is no riddle or puzzle you can solve that will get you out of this." Fiona explained.

"Now that isn't true. Why else would you disguise what represents us with all of these false representations scattered around the room." Dunc said pointing to all of the pictures scattered around the room. Hope counted 40 pictures, 1 true representations and 39 false for each of them "You know that once we find them Hope could probably use them to break us out of here." He said.

"You are all welcomed to try but you won't succeed in the meantime why don't we catch up? Half a decade is a long time." Fiona said wanting to drudge up things from a bygone era that should stay that way.

Hope had nothing to say to Duncan, because she didn't want to. And she was going to let the sleeping dogs lie with Fiona, she was going to get herself out of this unwanted reunion.

"Of course." Duncan said as he sat down in a chair surprising everyone in the room.

"Are you seriously sitting down to talk instead of helping us look for what represents us?" Hope asked.

"Well the most prudent way to find out what represents us is to talk it out with her and find out how she perceives us." Duncan said giving a logical but dreadful answer to instead of looking for a needle in a haystack she joined the others in sitting down.

* * *

Raf seemed to be feeling the most tension in the room with the discomfort he showed after a glance at Fiona. Hope herself was more agitated than anything while Duncan remained calm. Fiona seemed to be studying Duncan more closely than she had previously.

"How long?" Fiona asked after fully taking on Duncan's new attitude, easy to interpret as a vampire with their emotions of, but there were subtle traces of his humanity being on. Ironic since it made him even more of a monster.

"5 years." He answered truthfully instead of dancing around the question as he did with her.

Hope could see the pain and betrayal that flashed through the other girls face and sympathized with it, having been in the same scenario nearly 3 weeks ago.

"How?" Fiona asked

"It's not a pretty story."

"It never is with you, tell me how did you do it? After everything you did, how did you get the things you cast aside like they were nothing?" Fiona asked, Hope was unsure if she was referring more to them than his emotions.

"You weren't nothing. None of you were." Duncan said.

Ambivalence. Duncan had a way of drawing it out of Hope. Parts of herself were always fighting each other wherever he was concerned. She didn't want to know how he did it, all she wanted was for it to be over. But the part of her she tried to silence always wanted to know how.

"You were just the things that were holding me back. And I'm sorry it went down the way it did." He said punishing the part of her that still cared.

"Then you shouldn't have left," Hope said "but you did."

"Just answer her question." Raf said.

"Fine, but like I said it's not pretty story." He warned them "It was 5 weeks after I raided Demarcus' stronghold and tore through his men. I made sure he was the only survivor. He was first one I targeted and snapped his neck before the rest of his men could react and slaughtered them after. I wanted to make sure Demarcus was alive for what I planned to do to him. I dragged him to a place where I could make him suffer without interruption. For the first week he cursed at me in defiance holding out hope that one of his allies would come and save him from me, but they never came. Then he bargained for me to let him go for entire week while I exposed him to the horrors I had wanted to inflict on him ever since the day I got exiled. When bargaining for his freedom failed, he begged for the torture to stop. But it didn't. It got worse. Hour after hour it got worse as he screamed louder and begged harder for it to stop. And when that failed he begged for his death, but I wouldn't let him. No matter what he pleaded I would get my pound of flesh and more, but I couldn't enjoy it. I couldn't feel anything as I broke him piece by piece." Duncan smiled as he told the story as the rest of them couldn't decide whether to be more disappointed or mortified "But it was the day he stopped screaming and pleading, it was the day that light left his eyes and he was left truly shattered, that it happened. I wanted to experience it, to feel it. To feel his destruction. And my emotions came back like a tidal wave."

"What is wrong with you?" Hope asked hurt by the realization of his answer and a crack appeared in his façade. Hope saw snippets of the boy she once knew, Duncan Grayson.

"I needed vengeance and I did everything I had to, to get." He vindicated himself.

"Then what about after it? When you got your emotions back why didn't you come back then?" Fiona asked and Duncan's cavalier smile faltered as he didn't seem to want to answer "2 years ago Japan. I was in Tokyo handling some business for the summer. You were in Japan around the same time, carving a path of destruction seemingly from Shizuoka to Ibaraki. But you stopped before you reached Tokyo. Why?"

"You don't want the answer to that." Duncan warned. Always a warning for the pain his answers would cause.

"Bro." Raf stepped in, a hint off annoyance in his voice that brought back Duncan's cavalier smile.

"Fine. But are you sure you want to know why I stopped?" Duncan asked turning to Fiona as he smiled at her.

"This isn't a joke Duncan." Fiona said with actual annoyance.

"I know it isn't." He replied.

"Then drop the act." Fiona told him.

"Fine, but you will have to forgive me talking about the past is something I find rather uncomfortable doing." Duncan said, his voice losing all of the false joviality it held "I needed the humor as a crutch, if we were going to have this conversation." Duncan said, the Duncan she knew "But it's gone now. So ask your question." Duncan said taking of his glasses and she could see into his dark brown eyes. He looked a lot more like Duncan Grayson, a morbid collection of anger, pain and hurt hidden behind a vail of aloof indifference.

"Why?" Fiona asked again.

"It had nothing to do with you." Duncan said "I knew you were in the city but that wasn't why."

"Then why?" Fiona asked with desperation in her voice. Raf turned to stare at her and not Duncan for his answer.

"There was a coalition of vampires plotting against me in Budapest."

"There have been countless vampire alliances conspiring against you over the years but that has never stopped your path of destruction." Raf stepped in again his annoyance becoming more prominent. As time went on he was less uncomfortable and more irritated.

"Yes but these vampires were old, ancient even and when they decided to congregate against me. I knew I had to take that opportunity to exterminate them all. I orchestrated a plan were by I struck first and broke the alliance by disrupting their concentrated forces and leaving them to scatter to the winds. But I knew where they were headed and took them all one by one, until there were none left." Duncan said proudly. But it angered Raf.

"So that's how little we matter to you?" Raf asked "You abandon all of us and go off on a killing spree using the tactics of a genocidal maniac." Raf said, his flashing yellow "Tess taught us those tactics as a cautionary tale not an instruction manual." Raf eyes glowed for a moment longer than a second.

Hope hadn't seen Raf get angry in a while. And it surprised her that Duncan could make him angry. A few weeks ago it had seemed that all was forgiven and they had become drinking buddies. But Raf was joining in on Hope and Fiona's hostility towards Duncan. Hope had been so distracted thinking of how to get out of there and as far away from Fiona and Duncan that she didn't see the signs. But now she was paying attention

"Raf calm down" Fiona said.

"You got a lot of pent up anger against me Raf," Duncan said "and I will admit that most of it is justified. But I got to wonder is it only because of the choices I made when I left or the choices you made when I was gone?" Duncan said and his anger faded away.

"You know." Fiona chimed in confirming Hope's suspicions.

She knew the 2 had gotten close during senior year but not that close.

"Of course I do. Subtlety was never Raf's strong suit, intense discomfort, the sneaking glances and the anger on your behalf." Duncan explained "But I must say I find it oddly alarming that Raf has a weakness for redheads especially the ones entangled with his pseudo brothers. I imagine the guilt must have been ripping you apart." He said to Raf.

"It was," Raf admitted "But you don't seem to care."

"Oh no, I am bothered. I just don't have the right to be." Duncan said accepting it. Fiona after all was his first love.

"You lost that right. Which is why now that you know, I also want you to now I'm not looking for forgiveness." Fiona said despite her guilty face.

"You're not looking for it but you want it either way. You both do. But I can't forgive you because there was nothing to forgive." Duncan said but it didn't wipe the face of guilt off of Raf and Fiona's faces "But I must say I am rather curious as to how this happened?" Duncan asked but the both of them were reluctant to answer "Come on, all cards on the table."

"Fine." Raf said

"Raf you don't have to." Fiona said. "He doesn't deserve to know."

"No it's fine Fi. I want him to know" Raf said to her "It was about a month after you left I was still dealing with the lunar psychosis and spending most of my time in wolf form. I was also pissed that you left after you made me that promise while she was heartbroken and pissed that you left. One thing led to another and we hooked up. It was nice to have someone. Someone I could be with and the world would just fade away, someone who could make me feel like I could stop drowning and take breath. Even if that moment was short lived and followed by the guilt of what we had done. You know over the years every time that she and I got closer one of us pulled away because we were thinking about and your feelings. Thinking about what would happen when you came back." Raf explained.

Hope had always thought that she was the reason Raf and Aaliyah broke up. Raf had become one of her best friends but it had always come with the asterisk of his old feelings for her. It was good to know he had moved on from her but she was sad to find out that Duncan was ruining it, like he ruined everything.

"All of us were dumb enough to hold out hope that you weren't a lost cause, but you are." Raf "And you don't get to deflect from the shitty things that you've done with what we did. Using Brenden's tactics to wage war, do you have any idea how messed up that is? Do you have any idea how much like him you are?" Raf said containing his anger. Fiona was a reason for his anger, but Raf's father was a sore spot and the largest reason for his anger.

"I would appreciate it if people stopped comparing me to my brother." Duncan said. "Exactly what atrocities do you all think I have committed to warrant the comparison?"

"The slaughter of thousands comes to mind." Hope answered. Duncan had amassed quite the body count in his 5 years as a one man hybrid apocalypse.

"My brother slaughtered our own indiscriminately. He didn't just slaughter the men he slaughtered the women and children to. And all I have ever done is slaughter those that prey on the women and children."

"And that makes it right?" Raf asked unsure if he could choose between being angry or disappointed at Duncan.

"How much more blood do vampires have to spill before it's justified to eradicate them."

"You keep forgetting that some of our friends are vampires." Fiona chimed in.

"Some of yours maybe." Duncan didn't have friends. Even MG the friendliest vampire they all knew wasn't friends with Duncan.

"Mrs. Forbes." Raf added.

"A couple of good apples aren't exactly a case for not erasing the species." Duncan said

"And what exactly is your case for wiping them out, other than the blood they have spilt because almost everyone here has blood on their hands." Hope said "Bill," Her first kill that triggered her curse and she paused for a moment turning to Raf because time heals all wounds but she had left a scar on him "Cassie." She said and turned to Duncan.

"Don't say it." Duncan Grayson said shaking his head. Few names could ever get to him like that. The person that started his path of hurting everyone who cared about him.

"Sean." she dared to say it. A scowl appeared on his face.

"Do not invoke his name in defense of that ill made species." Duncan spat out chilling the room with his spite. Duncan tried to say his name but he was failing to do so "He" Duncan finally said "He is a prime example of why that infestation should be eradicated. He was an innocent kid that turned into a collateral damage for vampire's war efforts. For nearly a millennia vampires, a species of people who have been gifted eternal life have done nothing but destroy it at every turn. Which is why every single one of them deserves to be wiped from existence. Just as they have tried to do to werewolves for as long as they have existed. And just in case you think I am the same as them I am not. Over the years they have driven werewolves to near extinction many times. I'm going to succeed in making them extinct." Duncan declared with such vile hatred it seeped into her bones.

"You realize that half my family are vampires." Hope reminded in case he forgot she was a part of the original family. As much as she didn't want to believe it, a part of her knew he meant it when he said he still cared about her. Maybe just as much as his vehement speciesism.

"I hate brake it to you Hope but your family are nothing more than just a bunch of blood sucking monsters that have spent so long at the top of the food chain that everyone else looks like ants. The progeny of a man so prideful that instead of retreating form a superior species in its native home forced his wife to create a new one capable of combating the true owners of the land."

"That was a thousand years ago." Hope said in their defense, Mikael forced them to become Originals. And his sins shouldn't be accounted to his children.

"But what did the children do with their powers given to them by a megalomaniac. They became him and even worse. How many werewolf deaths have the original family been responsible for? How many Paxon deaths?" Duncan asked "In 1037 Finn nearly slaughtered an entire pack of Paxon's because his lover Sage had enraged their alpha by killing his son. In 1218 Rebekah slaughtered the main branch of the Paxon line because one of them had been rumored to have whispered ills about her behind her back. In 1278 Elijah and his Stryx had nearly driven the entire Paxon line to extension for their research into the werewolf curse. In 1507 Kol had slaughtered many packs including Paxons using their blood as the basis of a divination spell that ultimately served no purpose. And Klaus Mikealeson." Duncan paused. She saw it in his face that he was fighting a part of himself not to say anything about her father. But like every fight Duncan had within himself it never ended in her favor. "A supposed half werewolf from one of the 7 packs but had nearly ended the Paxon line dozens of time over the millennia and killing my great grandfather for the simple purpose of proving his dominance. Your relatives have already slaughtered so many of my ancestors and committed so many atrocities against the entire werewolf species and that's not even counting their sires." Duncan said.

Hope knew who here family was, but there were times she forgot they weren't the best of people. They only tried being better when she came along, and that didn't absolve them of their past sins but they were still here family.

"The vampire species deserves to be eradicated. And I will be the one that ends." Duncan stated with conviction reminiscent of that boy long ago.

* * *

"You can't end the vampire species. You can try to kill all the vampires in the world but it doesn't matter because my family is immortal." Hope stated a fact, that wasn't exactly true. Her family was invincible but there was truly no such thing as immortal. But as she reminded herself of that fact she had an inexplicable worry. A suspicion that started gnawing at her. As she looked she saw his conviction and worried her even more. Conviction was dangerous thing for Duncan to especially when it came to murder.

"What did you do?" Hope asked. So much time spent worrying about petty boy drama and fearing how he was going to break her heart again that she forgot that he more than just a threat to her.

"You didn't?" Raf asked Duncan coming to the same realization as Hope.

Duncan was a threat.

"Of course he did." Fiona said "He would never go to war without tipping the scales in his favor."

None of them truly knew what he did, but they knew he did something. It was Duncan. He was too smart for his own good and the good of others. He had found a way to turn himself tribrid he could find a way to turn himself into even more than that. And to do that it required the kind of power that wasn't just laying around.

"You used the nexus vorti to turn yourself into and original, Hope theorized "like Marcel." Duncan wouldn't just turn himself into an original and level the playing field.

"And more." Duncan claimed. And she believed him.

This changed everything.

"Why?" She asked hurting more than he had ever hurt her before.

"I already told you." He said with a modicum of shame "I'm going to eradicate the species." With the truth out he couldn't replicate his former conviction but he still had the power to end her family.

"I'm not going to let you do that." Hope said tears pooling in her eyes. She hadn't let him back in, she didn't want to, but he hurt her all the same. He was good at that.

"It's not up to you." Duncan told her

"But it is up to me." Fiona said "You're still in the chamber de chasse."

"You're going to stand in my way?" Duncan asked surprised.

"Of course I am." Fiona said "If you kill the original family all you will do upset the balance even more and I can't allow you to do that."

"You do understand who you are defending right? because vampires don't just kill wolves they kill witches too. The blood the original family has shed in particular could flood the Sahara."

"They are not the only family that have shed blood or are you forgetting that we are Paxons. But even if our family didn't have all of that baggage the original family are still Hope's family." Raf came to her defense.

"And I will always stand against you especially when you try to hurt people dumb enough to still care about you." Fiona said joining in on Hope's defense. Duncan's specialty was hurting those that cared about him. It was a 3 way tie for first place between Fiona, Hope and Tess. Raf was in 4th place but the 3 of them were in agreement against him "So were going to keep you here for as long it takes to turn you back." She added.

It was a bitter sweet victory, because as long it took to find Duncan's loophole, it would also be time for them to find a way to reinstate the werewolf curse. Hope would find another way of saving the werewolf species after she made sure the vampire species could live.

"That's the thing about a chamber de chasse." Duncan said "To build it you have to know your prey and to escape it you have to know your hunter. And I still know you. Granted I was 100% sure if I was the big bad wolf or the scorpion that couldn't stop itself from stinging the frog. You decided to go the less conventional but more obvious route and chose the scorpion to represent me. You chose Hope as a Raven because you see her as a beautiful soul that you resonate with because it was shaped by the deaths that surrounded her. And as majestic as you think she is, you still see her as an omen of ill fortune for you that can take away the people you love. Raf is the boar although you revere him in spite of his aggression and temperament because he is loyal and will fearlessly defend those he cares about. You see him as the noble heroes portion but you don't think you are worthy of him. Which is why you push him away and see yourself as the snake. The lying treacherous kind that feels so broken inside that it starts eating its own tail in a path of destruction. Hoping one day that it can shed its skin and have a rebirth. A fresh start to build itself back up. How am I doing?" Duncan asked.

"4 for 4." Fiona admitted "But it still doesn't change anything because no one here will help you. You're stuck here Duncan."

"It's a good thing it's not up to you." Duncan said "I have been entertaining this farce because in the past I wronged all of you, and I wanted to give you all the closure that I owed you. And I mean real closure Hope not pretending that you didn't feel what you felt for me while you were nursing a broken heart because of it. But now that the cat is out of the bag the game has come to an end, although I would have preferred it end with me paying all my debts. This chamber de chasse isn't a prison that can hold me. No prison can hold me. Because there is no prison powerful enough." Duncan stated his true face coming to the forefront. Hope had seen the true face of vampires and hybrids alike but his face was different.

His sclera didn't turn blood shot red, they were where black and his irises didn't glow yellow. They were red. The veins pumping blood into his eyes went past his jaw even reaching his neck. So this was the true face of an original tribrid, for a moment he truly seemed like a monster, monsters would be afraid of.

He held a hand up while his were glowing crimson red and with no incantation he started closing his hand. The world shook violently. He closed his fist and the world crumbled.

* * *

She wasn't blindsided but that didn't stop her from waking up in an oddly familiar place. It was a cellar filled with whiskey bottles.

"Where are we now?" Asked still unsure of where they were. They had been attacked at the bar and she knew their bodies would have been moved but she still couldn't place where they were.

"The Walsh Manor cellars. Built in 1873 in Ireland. 7 hours away from New York." Raf said sarcastically. They had been in Fiona's chamber de chasse for less than 3 hours.

"We're still stuck in a chamber de chasse. But I am not the warden." Fiona stated

Duncan through raw power alone had easily broken out of chamber de chasse by the Rhiannon Coven and instantly trapped the 3 of them in another chamber de chasse capable of holding as she tested breaking out. This was the more he spoke of. Hope had the power of a 100 witches, but her body had its limits and she could never use all of that power. But Duncan didn't share those limitations yet he seemed even stronger than that.

"We have to get out of here." Hope said, it wasn't a prison. It was a distraction evidence by the locked door in the cellar. It was meant to keep them busy while he targeted her family all of whom were in the city for her graduation. It was all her fault and she had to fix it. But first they had to get out of there and since she couldn't do it with raw strength they had to find the keys that represented them in the chamber de chasse.

It took them 20 minutes to find out what represented Fiona and it took another hour to find out what represented Raf. But it took 5 hours to scour Walsh Manor for Hope's key.

For Fiona it was in a bottle of Walsh 1927 limited reserve Irish whiskey, hidden under the 1st secret compartment Duncan built. A compartment he built to hide the first love letter he ever wrote her.

For Raf it was the Paxon axe hidden in the Walsh family vault.

For Hope it was comic book. She remembered him telling her about his favorite superhero, Superman. She thought she would find her key in his collection of Injustice comic books. It had been one of the few honest conversations they ever had. It was all she had to go one and when she didn't it in one of the 148 books she looked to other superman stories and ended up finding it in the first issue of kingdom come.

When they finally made it out, it was too late.

Duncan was in the wind and so where Kol, Rebekah and Marcel. He took them an hour after he escaped the chamber de chasse. Enough time for them to become ghosts. They couldn't be found no matter the locator spells she, Davina, Freya and the Rhiannon Coven used.

Hope feared the worst. But as a day passed and vampires from their sire lines still lived it showed they weren't dead yet. Tess and Jeremy pitched in on the man hunt and gave the rest of them insight in to Duncan's thought process. They theorized he would take out Marcel first. He was the biggest threat to Duncan since nobody knew if Marcel's venom could actually kill Duncan, and vice versa. Duncan also would have had to find a way to kill Marcel since Freya had destroyed the only weapon that could kill Marcel. Only 2 ways came to mind, one of them was the obvious choice so a team went to mystic falls to find Damon Salvatore and the other to New Orleans, the less plausible choice.

When she arrived in New Orleans she was told of the 4 newly resurrected witches. Ancestral Magic had returned to New Orleans once again. The same magic that was responsible for creating Lucien Castle's immortality spell. The same magic that was an essential part of reversing that very spell. They knew for sure when people from Marcel's sire line could feel it break.

They had just missed them and Marcel was no longer an unkillable original.

When the team reported back from Mystic Falls they found that Damon Salvatore and his entire family had been kidnapped days ago.

* * *

A week passed and none of them could be found, but she knew they were alive because Rebekah's sire line was still intact. Hope barely slept or ate worrying about her family while also thinking and putting together all of the pieces to the puzzle. Somewhere easier to solve than others. How he got werewolf super venom. For that he would have had to gather the venom of the 7 packs, which explained her aunt Keelin's abduction by werewolf hunters 2 years back. The harder ones where the ones with many answers. How did he reverse engineer the immortality spell, Lucien Castle may have one the supernatural arms race with his version of the immortality spell, but he hadn't been the only one in the race. Many vampires, mostly ancient one's had been trying for centuries. Duncan's affinity for hunting ancient vampire must have given him something to go off on. The hardest question to answer was why, why go through all of that and let them live.

On the 9th day a locator spell finally worked but it led to mystic falls. Hope feared that they weren't the only ones that were looking for them. Kol's sire line was small in number and only 20 years old, Marcel's sire line was the same age but far larger and even if they were no longer tied to him, the charismatic king had many supporters and allies, Rebekah's sire line was a lot older with over a 1000 years of sires. A majority of the vampire race. An army unlike any other descended upon Mystic Falls, because it was either they fought Duncan and risked some of them dying trying to take him out, or the entire species would be erased.

They went through the woods getting closer to a clearing that Hope knew all too well. It was hallowed ground with remnants of the residual power from the spell her grandmother cast. But Hope felt more power laying around, the after effects of another powerful spell.

She rushed towards their location with the hundreds of vampires, maybe even thousands at her back. When she made it to the clearing she found them all at an altar with a large cauldron in the middle of it. Her family stood with somber faces leaning by the walls of the altar while Duncan laid on its stone steps.

Seeing her family safe gave her relief so she stopped running, but the army of vampires descended.

"Good," Duncan said "we finally have an audience. For those of you that feared losing your lives today fear not. The Mikaelsons and I have come to an agreement that will see an end to the senseless slaughter. In time Marcel Gerard will go into the finer details of the charter we have created but I will take the liberty of telling you the most important part." Duncan stood and Hope could hear a thousand heartbeats freeze.

"This town is Mystic Falls. The town is scared ground for vampire because it was where the species was born and where it will die." Duncan said and with that threat a couple of brave vampires tried to charge him with their vamp speed, but they never stood a chance. The dropped to the ground right before him. His true face showing. The glowing crimson eyes petrifying everyone looked into them as he set a blaze the vampires before him. The fires were intense and wild. Just as quickly as they had come they left just the same leaving ash in their stead.

"They were too impatient to let me finish and they died for it." Duncan said "This is where the species will die, but not today. For the moment Mystic Falls is a safe haven for vampires. The only place in the world that vampires are safe from me." He said pausing to look at the scorch marks he had left "As long as they don't attack me. But there is a condition for the protections this safe haven provides. The condition is a blood oath. For those who seek asylum they must simply consult the Mikaelsons and give their blood to the cauldron to enter the blood oath. And the blood oath has conditions as well, chief among them is no killing. Anyone who kills while under the blood oath will be branded an oath breaker then executed." Duncan threatened again, but there were no impulsive vampires rushing towards death.

"Another condition is that you remain within the bounds of Mystic Falls, since your blood will be used to enter the blood oath it can also be used to track you anywhere on the planet no matter the cloaking spell. Once found you will be killed on sight. There are more conditions of the blood oath but they are in the charter and will be discussed by Marcel." Duncan said "For those of you not willing to undertake the blood oath know that the choice is yours. The blood oath is both consensual and for life. But I will eradicate the species within 300 years would you like to spend it on the run from me or in this lovely town. You all have the grace period of a month to decide. After that anyone not in the blood oath will be hunted and terminated long before those 300 year are over. I assure you." Duncan said as thought predetermined.

"He meant what he said, the choice is yours, live for 300 years or die a month from now." Marcel told the army that had been facing extension less than an hour ago, but now had a way to postpone it. He went to the cauldron with a knife and sliced his hand drawing blood and dropping it in the cauldron followed by Rebekah and Kol.

Duncan had finished his speech and walked away from the altar as some of Marcel's men walked to the cauldron to make their blood oaths. They didn't have to hear the sales pitch to join up with Marcel but everyone else was reluctant.

Duncan walked through the crowed of cautious vampires clearing the way for him.

"There's hundreds of us we could take him." A vampire said, whose suggestion fell on deaf ears. Some might have considered it, but no one made a move.

He walked further away from the congregation instead of speeding away. He was the fast being under the sun and he easily could have. But she was following him and he knew they had unfinished business.

* * *

"Well done." She dryly said once they were far away from everyone else. He turned to face her. "I must say I'm impressed."

"Really?" he asked coolly. It wasn't his staple of indifference or his cavalier façade. It was more of an authentic calm. As though for a single moment he were at peace.

"Of course. That is why you did all of this right? For me." She asked "It's why you didn't kill them?"

"Yes." He answered.

"Over the past couple of days I spent worried sick about my family and whether you would kill them or not I came across a realization, while thinking about how everything went down." She said "There were a 1000 ways you could have done this. So many of them where we would have never had to see each other again. You could have found a way to break the werewolf curse without ever having to comeback into my life, maybe even turn yourself into whatever you became." She had no doubt that he could have done it without her "So many of them were my family ended up dead and the vampire race would have been extinct before the end of the decade."

Over the past 3 decades the vampire race had dwindled exponentially, in the span of 10 years Her Uncle Finn, Kol and Elijah's sire lines had been destroyed. Taking out 3/5 of the vampire race. Had he killed Rebekah he would have taken out nearly half of the remaining in one kill. Killing Marcel and Kol would have only left her father's sire line. A sire line he could hunt to extinction within a decade.

"But of the 1000 ways you could have done this you chose this one." Where they met each other again and her family lived "I know why you did it, but I want you to admit it." She told him.

"It's because I know the things that I want, but I'm not willing to sacrifice one for the other." He admitted "I want every single vampires head on a pike. But I can't do that because I'm in love with you. And I don't want you to hate me. I have given you a lot of reasons to, over the years but I made sure I never crossed the line into unforgivable. If I killed them you would have hated me forever."

"And you don't want me to hate you," She said "because a part of wants me to save you, from yourself. It's why you came back, because a part of you wanted to falter. You hoped that seeing me again would stop you. But it wasn't enough. You thought you could push the envelope further while never crossing that line into unforgivable. You stuck around after because you hoped that I still had feelings for you. And I did. So then you hoped I would show them to you. Maybe if I showed I was still in love with you it could stop you from taking things further. Because at every turn you hoped that I could save you. It's why I found the key to the chamber de chasse in the first Issue of Kingdom Come page 45, when Superman truly shows up."

"The last son of Kyrpton and the house of El" He said smiling a bit.

"The house of Hope." She added, having read up on Superman because of Duncan "Because that's what I mean to you hope. The hope that I can save you from yourself and turn you into a better man no matter how irredeemable you are. It took me a while to figure that out." It was 5 hours in the chamber de chasse and another couple of days after that "Fiona found her key in under 20 minutes because she knew you the most and knew how you thought. I imagine over the years you two had talked and figured out a lot about each other even going as far as being each other's first loves and friends with secrets and special drinks." The first bottle of whiskey they had ever had. One he swiped and shared with them.

"It took Raf an hour to find his key because he's your family and has spent the past 5 years living your life. The life you should have led under Tess's wing so of course he would represent a family heirloom." The Paxon axe hidden in the Walsh family vault. A symbol passed down from alpha to alpha, there was a time Tess was going to give it to Duncan, since he was her heir. So Duncan gave it to the true heir.

"But you and I never had anything like that. The only thing we shared together were intense feelings for each other and you left before we could ever find anything else." It was the first time she said without bitter resentment "It's why you represented me with comic book about the Big Blue Boy Scout version of Superman. The one that Sean loved, the only other person that could have saved you."

If Sean hadn't died Duncan wouldn't have been the person he was. He would have been a better man that wasn't fixated and obsessed with revenge on those that were responsible for Sean's death even at the cost of those that cared about him. But Sean did die, and Duncan was the person he was today.

"But I want you to know, that I am not going to be your savior because you are a lost cause." She admitted to herself and him, with clarity in her mind "And it's not because I hate you. How could I ever hate someone I don't?" She repeated what he once told her. She wasn't going to be his savior, because it wasn't her job to save him "I was in love with you, even though I didn't know you. And I can't hate you because I still don't." She knew about him, little tidbits here and there given to her by the people that did know him. But she didn't know him. All Hope knew was that they were in love with each other but they could never be. "What I am is done." She walked closer and wrapped her arms around him. A final hug. "That is all I have to say. Thank you Duncan for letting me get the closure I needed." She said looking up at him.

They understood he couldn't choose between loving her and hating them. But she could choose to be better and find someone she could love without it being toxic.

He accepted that with a genuine smile. It was warmer than smile she had ever seen from him, even if it quivered as a tear rolled down his face. He was glad she was choosing to move on from him, no matter the pain that door closing caused him. It was bitter sweet.

She remembered when people used to ask, why the lone wolf and the tribrid never got together. It was because they were never meant to be.

* * *

 **AN:** Promises were made and I didn't deliver on time, but here it is now.

As for those wondering about why Hope seemingly forgive Duncan for kidnapping he family and also threatening to kill them in 300. It's because she knows what he is planning for them because he kidnapped Damon and his entire family, taking them away from a town that is about to be over run with vampires while also giving them vampires 300 years. A century for the 3 of them.

I know I made promises before but the next chapter will be dropping with in a week.

 _ **The End is near.**_


	20. The end

**AN:** The seeds of what they wrought through the trios P.O.V.

* * *

 **October 23 2037.**

Raf loosened up his tie. It felt like a noose cutting all the circulation to his head. Maybe that's why he couldn't think of what to write.

"You know for a poet I thought you would be better at writing vows." Landon said laughing at him.

"Shut up." Raf said. He had been struggling for weeks, but time was running out and he still didn't know what to write.

"Hey if this is too hard for you, there's still time." Landon said "We can sneak out and go on a road trip together like the old days." He suggested.

With both of their hectic schedules neither of them had had the chance to go on a road trip for nearly 3 years. It was a tempting offer.

"That's the thing," Raf said "if I wanted to go on the run, I would take her with me and elope. But this dog and pony show isn't exactly optional for me." The groom barely had a say in it.

"Yeah girl's and their big weddings." Landon said "Maybe you should add that in your vows, going along with the dog and pony show because it isn't optional." Landon laughed again taking joy in Raf's misery.

"Can you stop with the jokes and help me out?" Raf asked.

"Sorry I write songs not vows." Landon answered.

"Way to be useful bro." Raf said as Nick walked in walked in with another bottle of whiskey.

What was the point of having an artist friend when they couldn't help you be artistic with your words? Raf hadn't been poetic in years, he had grown up and left that life behind, because looking back, he was never good at it. Another reason why he was struggling with his vows.

"Oh come on I'm just here for emotional support." Landon said proudly

"You bring stupid feelings to the table and I keep bringing actual liquid courage in tangible booze." Nick said setting down the bottle of whiskey with Raf pouring himself another drink "Yet somehow you're the bestman."

"Well then I guess that says more about you than it does me." Landon shot back.

Nick was a great friend and one of the closest friends Raf had. But Landon was family, so when it came down to Raf chose Landon as his best man. Now he was starting to regret his decision

"It doesn't matter who the best man is," Raf said "just help me, please!" He said as a knock came on his door "Come in." He said.

Tess walked in wearing a purple dress and a headpiece on her ear. It was a large wedding and Tess had taken it upon herself to do the lion share of the coordinating.

"Gentlemen would you be so kind as to lend me my nephew for a while." Tess asked them.

"Sure." They said as they walked out of the room leaving the 2 of them.

"What is it?" Raf asked nervously. He had been wound up the entire day.

"You asked me to keep you appraised of the situation." Tess reminded him. There had been little in consideration given to him during the decision making process of the wedding, but security was something he was very concerned about. "Patrick and his team have reported back with a status update, the problem in their sector was taken care of, however it wasn't by Patrick contingent. All the other contingents reported the same. Jeremy was able to confirm that it was his handy work." Tess informed him.

With so many important and high value people at that wedding, they had to make sure that the security would be able to handle the security risks. There was very little the security teams could do to stop Duncan, but they had enough power to stop an army dumb enough to look for Duncan there.

"He's here?" Raf said dreading his presence. There had always been a possibility that Duncan would come. But few could ever ruin a party like his uncle.

"He was, now he is keeping his distance." Tess said "But before that he managed to slip in a package. Malcom was able detect and move it before it was cataloged so it won't get back to Fiona. Right now Malcom is keeping it safe else were and you can decide what to do with it at your own discretion."

"I guess owe Malcom a drink." Raf said. Malcom Thorne was a good kid.

"It would seem that you do, but make sure it is just a drink" Tess emphasized "and be discreet."

"I know, we wouldn't Shannon blaming us for her underage son getting drunk at a wedding." Malcom was 16 the age where it would be expected for him to sneak in a drink, all Raf was going to do was make it easier for him to do so and turn a blind eye.

"Speaking of drunk at a wedding." Tess said in a judgmental tone. Raf was well passed the legal drinking age on Ireland but even he had to admit 3 bottles of whiskey before noon was a bit excessive.

"I'm sober enough." Raf said.

"Still struggling with your vows?" She asked.

"Yeah." He admitted

"You would probably do a lot better if you cut back on the drinking and overthinking. Instead just try to simplify it and remember why you're writing them." She advised.

"Because she wanted a fairy tale wedding." He joked. He would have been satisfied with just the 2 of them.

"Because you wanted to give her a fairy tale wedding." Tess reminded him

"Sound logic." He complimented.

"As usual." She said letting it get to her head. Tess was one of the wisest and smartest people he knew. "I'm going to keep monitoring every situation, but you" She said poking him with a finger "go finish up your vows." Tess said as she left the room, took make sure she put out all the fires and he could just focus on writing his vows.

He was writing them because he loved her. At the most complicated and wild times in his life she had been there to ground him and make sure he didn't lose himself. She was his lighthouse in the wild storm of his life. Every time he climbed up the corporate ladder or closed a deal she was the first person he would call to tell about it. And as complicated and messy as the beginning of their relationship was he was the glad he did it, because it ended up with today.

He was glad he was marrying Fi.

* * *

The suit was dashing, but the man wearing it not so much. Jay was standing by a table watching the whole entire wedding go down. He was lost in his head like a deer in the headlights. He always did look cute when he was nervous.

"Hey are you okay?" Hope asked rubbing her hand on his back to bring him back to reality.

"Yeah." He said nervously "No. That's a lie and you know I'm lying because you have witch powers." He said.

They had been dating for 3 years, becoming official a couple of weeks after her graduation. 3 blissful and almost perfect years. And in all of that time she had kept only one thing from him. The other world she lived in where witches, werewolves, vampires and everything else existed. She had wanted to tell him for a long time and with the guest list for Raf and Fi's wedding, it felt like the right time to let him know what he was walking into.

"First of all that is not how it works," Hope corrected him, she'd have to cast a truth spell on him for that. Which wouldn't even be necessary since Jay was an open book, one of the things she loved about him "and secondly are you going to be okay?" She asked.

"Yes, no, maybe I don't know." He answered confused.

"Okay then just tell me that you are going to be okay and keep your promise to me." Jay always did.

"Sure I promise I'll be okay." He said "It's just that it's a lot to take in. Half the guest are witches and the other half a werewolves that can use the powers of a witch!"

Most of the guest were either a part of the Paxon clan or the Rhiannon Coven. Both Large and influential supernatural groups in the Irish Peninsula.

"And I am a vampire that can use the powers of witch." Lizzie said coming in with Aaliyah "but you're dating a girl who is all three. Part witch, part werewolf and part vampire." She said flashing her true face. The face of a vampire.

"Lizzie don't be a bitch." Hope chastised her friend.

When the merge was coming up, Lizzie knew that she was weaker than Josie. And even if they were no longer codependent Lizzie knew her sister was still self-sacrificing and would let her win the merge. To avoid that Lizzie bit the bullet first with vampire blood in her system becoming a vampire. Which magnified her inner bitch and since she was one of the few vampires under the blood oath allowed to leave Mystic Falls she was freaking out Jay with her true face.

"It takes a while to adjust. And he is nervous enough as it is, stop trying to scare him." Hope said.

"Okay," Lizzie said "but I think he is less scared of me and more scared of a certain someone showing up to his nephew's wedding." She said still being a bitch. And Jay's heart beat a little faster.

"Not cool." Aaliyah said. Hope had told both her and Alison the truth about the supernatural world over a year ago.

"I think I'm going to get a drink." Jay said excusing himself, and Hope decided to let him go and give him sometime alone. She was going to give him 20 minutes then she would go out and find him.

"Where is Duncan by the way?" Aaliyah asked "I thought he would have shown up by now." Hope was concerned by the tone of her voice, a step beyond passing curiosity and more morbid fascination.

"Aw you got a thing for tall dark and mysterious?" Lizzie asked.

"It's not like that." Aaliyah said.

"Let's hope not." Hope chimed in.

"Hey I would never go after your ex. Girl code and all that." Aaliyah said.

"It's not that," Hope corrected, she was less worried about that and more worried about Aaliyah herself "it's just Duncan himself. He's not the type of guy that you date or even think about associating with."

Raf and Fiona's wedding was a big affair. Like every wedding there was bound to be a wild card or two. Raf had invited 3 of his exes and the girl he used to have feelings for to his wedding, but neither Josie, Lizzie, Aaliyah or she were the wild cards. Like a normal wedding the wild card was that one uncle.

"Hope's right." Lizzie said "As attractive as tall dark and mysterious is. You will quickly realize that all there is to him is brooding and a compulsive need for destruction." She had outgrown her crushes on the hot, angry and damaged ones.

"Sounds like a dick." Landon said walking by "Is he here?" Landon looked around like he wanted to pick a fight, smelling of liquid courage.

"No. How drunk are you?" Lizzie asked

"Enough," Landon answered clearly more than drunk enough "don't tell Josie." He added.

Josie would have been peeved that her boyfriend was wasted hours before the wedding began.

"She won't need to when you smell like a bar." Hope chimed in.

"That's because you both have super senses." Landon said in his defense.

"I can also smell the whiskey from here." Aaliyah said.

"In my defense I was doing my job as best man by going shot for shot with the groom." Landon made another excuse.

"Because drinking with an Irish werewolf that has an insane natural tolerance is such a good idea." Aaliyah said.

"I never said it was I just said I was doing my job as the best man." Landon staggered a bit.

"And now it's my job to get you sober. Come on Frodo." Lizzie said as she dragged the drunk phoenix away.

With that Hope had given her boyfriend enough time alone to think so she went after him.

"Hey." She said watching him with a glass in his hand. Whiskey was in abundance at Walsh family wedding.

"Hey." He said back, the drinking in his hand shaking

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I thought a drink would help calm my nerves. But that didn't work so I got another one, now I'm slightly buzzed."

"But you're still shaking." She said smiling at her nervous boyfriend

"Yeah," He chuckled "because it seems no matter how much I drink I keep hearing this voice at the back of my head telling me that your evil ex-boyfriend. The demon wolf, half homicidal maniac and half destroyer of worlds is on his way here right now to kill me." Jay said finding the absurdity of his statement both funny and horrifying.

"So why haven't you run for the hills?" She asked.

"The answer to that is extremely cheesy." He said. Over the years she had seen how cheesy he could get. Under all of the mystique of the aloof and shy person was nothing but cheese.

"And I'm not lactose intolerant." She said "Hit me with all the cheese." She said wrapping her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulders.

"Fine, it's because you are worth incurring wrath of a homicidal maniac." Jay chuckled.

"That's awfully brave of you." Hope smiled at his nervous chuckle. Jay would always chose being with her "But you don't have to worry about Duncan. He's not coming." She had no doubt that Duncan was around, but he still wouldn't be coming. "And plus he has this thing about killing innocent humans." It was the top of the list of the Mystic Falls charter, a rule he himself religiously followed.

"Good to know supernatural Hitler has a code. But from what I've heard he would be just as satisfied just beating me within an inch of my life." Jay said, but it wasn't true.

Many horrible things could be attributed to Duncan. He was always violent, a warrior with the rage of a berserker, but he never picked on those weaker than him. Especially humans. Even if he did.

"I would never let that happen." She assured him "Because you're worth standing up to a homicidal maniac for." She said as both of them laughed.

"Way to steal my thunder and emasculate me." He joked, dripping with sarcasm.

"Fine then you'll fight him." Hope teased.

"You I would but, I am pacifist." Jay said as a lame excuse.

"Then when it comes to fighting, I'll wear the pants." She said.

"Thank you." He replied

"An all seriousness I'll never let anything happen to you." She looked in in his eyes hazel eyes to assure him

"Of course you won't," He said "you're a badass tribrid that can kick anything's ass 3 ways to Sunday." He joked hugging her.

"You really have to stop making puns or else I can't keep you safe from everyone that hates lame puns."

"Fine I'll promise to never make another pun again and you promise to never let anything happen to me."

"I promise."

"And I promise too." Jay said as leaning in and kissed her.

She wasn't that little girl anymore begging people not to leave. She wasn't even that moody teenage girl pushing everyone away because she was scared of them leaving. Jay would always be there for her and she would always be there for him.

They were meant to be.

* * *

Duncan took a swig from his flask. He sat wearing a bloody suit on a rock in the forest overlooking ocean. It was dark with the stars out but they weren't the only sources of light he could see. On the other side of the chasm were lights coming from a tent and around the gathering. There was no one in the world with sense like him so he could more than just the lights in the distance despite his sunglasses.

He could even tell when he was no longer alone. He could go as far as telling who his visitor was not just by the smell of Jasmin, which was her favorite perfume. But also by her natural scent. He could even smell the enchanted steel of the axe that could never dull as wells as the oils used to polish it.

"You know as powerful sentimentalism I don't think nostalgia is one of my weaknesses." Duncan told her "So if you're going to tell me a story about living of the fat of the land and rabbits, that axe won't do the job."

"I'm not here to kill you Duncan." Tess said from behind him.

"Then why are you here when there's a wedding going on?" he asked. The ceremony had passed, but the reception was still going on.

"I'd ask the same to you?" She turned it back on him

"I wasn't here for the wedding," He answered "I was here for the vampires that were planning an attack." He was the primary target for the attack. 3 years and there were still fools that didn't get the message that he was invincible. At least they had made his job a lot easier by grouping. He was able kill 60 vampires in the span of 2 hours. That was 8 hours ago, since then he had been at that rock.

"Then what's with the suit?" Tess asked.

"It makes me look older." Duncan fibbed "I always get carded when I try to buy a drink. One of the curses of being forever 17."

"How does it feel to be a god?" She asked.

"Euphoric." He answered, the kind of power he had was exhilarating. Even though he had weakened himself by allowing the ancient vampires he channeled to take the blood oath, he still had the power of a 100 covens "But who knew omnipotence would feel so hollow." He said "And lonely." He stared out into the distant lights. With a new found appreciation for 'The Great Gatsby'.

"I did warn you about the paths you took." Tess said.

"That you did." Duncan agreed "You know all of the time I spend alone because of my choices has, given me time to reflect with a new perspective. You will always be the sister I failed and disappointed. But you are also the one person that could never hate me because you loved me too much for that."

Everyone else hadn't been as deeply rooted to him as Tess and had a chance to hate him. Raf would always be the brother he should have done more for, but didn't. Fiona would always be the girl he should have loved more but ruined. While Hope would always be the girl he loved too much, but abandoned all the same.

"It comes with the territory of changing your diapers." Tess chuckled without any humor "There are times I find myself thinking of the baby in that crib, who had become my responsibility. The one I promised to always look after and care for. Then I think of the little boy that baby became, that cute little wide eyed brat that had a little bit of a temper and was too smart for his own good. It truly got scary when puberty hit and his hormones started raging as did his actual rage. It still hurts to this day that I didn't stop him from crossing that line." Tess said with the pain in her voice feeling like jagged knives stabbing him to his core.

"It wasn't your fault." Duncan said taking responsibility.

The only thing that soothed his guilt mind was knowing that Raf and Fiona found solace within each other and that Hope found Jay. Unfortunately Tess and Jeremy weren't together anymore so Tess was most likely going to end up spinster that would never get the chance to right a wrong, by raising a child that didn't end up like him

"I know it wasn't, but he was my responsibility. And the moment he crossed that line there was no turning back for him. And day by day he reminded me of dad and Brenden. Now when I see you all I see is them." She said with a broken heart that broke his. "It's why I'm giving this to you." She said bring the family axe into view.

"This belongs to Raf." Duncan reminded her. It was a spell forged Celtic axe made by shamans for a Paxon alpha. And since then it had been passed from alpha to alpha for the past 600 years.

"No it doesn't." Tess said. "He's not like you or them. He has the warrior's madness but he hasn't allowed the rage to consume him. Every single day he fights it off and succeeds at that. Leaving room in his life for people that he cares about and making sure not to disappoint them." Tess said, but she was struggling to say how she really felt. So he helped put it on the table.

"There are times you wish he were your brother instead of me." Duncan said. Times she wished she had raised Raf instead of him.

"Yes." Tess admitted. "And I hate myself for thinking that." She said putting the blame on herself instead of the rightful culprit.

"Don't worry sis I understand he is the better man." Duncan admitted.

It was nice to know that like Fiona, Tess had found a worthy replacement with Raf. The Paxon prince they all deserved.

"He is." Tess agreed "And you are a white sheep in a generation of black ones. It's why I am giving you the axe. It was passed form alpha to alpha in the Paxon line. From warmonger to warmonger. Raf and I are going to make sure that the Paxons move away from the old destructive ways, into knew constructive ones." She declared with conviction.

Duncan had taken note of the moves his family was making. They were expanding and building empire, less through conquest and more of diplomacy. Raf had been taking charge of expansion into New York. He had made a name for himself, taking over a portion of the power vacuum Marcel Gerard's absence had caused.

"But you are the last of them." She said "The last true Paxon, and an immortal at that." She bitterly stated. But the resentment was aimed at both him and herself. Tess was as close to a mother as he had. But at that moment she was reluctant to consider him a son or a brother. She had disassociated between them and the man he became. Even with all of that psychic distance she still couldn't bring herself to say it, but he knew what she was trying to find a way to say without breaking the both of them.

"It sounds like you are disowning me." He said bringing another uncomfortable truth to the table as a tear fell.

"Good luck in the wars to come Duncan," She answered him and slammed the axe, lodging it on the rock next to him "and may they bring you peace." She said without peace of her own. Her maternal instincts punishing the both of them for failing each other, even though it wasn't her fault.

Duncan could smell the salt coming not just from his tears but hers as well. As Tess left him there to be alone while he still looked into the distant lights.

When he was young he was taught the distinction between good and evil. A hero and a villain. A savior and a lost cause. Often the difference between them was who was telling the story. He had committed many evils in service for his need for Vengeance.

His name was Duncan Allister Walsh and he was the villain of their stories and his own. All because her was a lost cause that had sacrificed his Hope.

 _ **The End.**_

* * *

 **AN:** This is where the characters ended up in this story.

I had thought of a lot of different endings when it came to the conclusion. Somewhere it ended with Duncan and Fi together while Raf and Hope got together. Others Where it was Raf and Hope together. But this ending connected the most with me.

Raf and Hope both deserved happiness. But they couldn't end up together. When I started this they were my favorite ship, but in the show it had almost always been one sided. With Raf pinning after Hope while stopping himself because of Landon. Now I prefer them to be platonic. And Raf had to end up with someone.

Looking back I wish I would have added more scenes between Raf and Fiona because there was a point in time when to everyone else they were the 2 most important people to Duncan and gave him the ability to show off a softer side. I could have showed both of them becoming really good friends so when Duncan left Fiona could use Raf as way of getting back at Duncan. Then she would catch feelings but their relationship would always be tainted because of what she did. After that time in the Chambre De chasses it was like they stopped letting Duncan's shadow control them. But I didn't put all of that in and most of it was offscreen so I will understand if people don't like the rushed pairing.

Hope deserved someone who would never leave her so she couldn't be with Duncan. Instead she deserved to lead a normal life for once. Ever since she was born the universe had just seemed to revolve around her like she was responsible for everything. Being the literal Hope for her family, constantly protecting the school and all her friends even saving the world from Malivore. The girl has been a real champ about all of that but she needed a break. It was not her responsibility to save Duncan from himself. She had to let him go and find someone who she could have a nice, wholesome and uncomplicated relationship with where the was plenty of communication and no threats to her family.

Duncan deserved to be alone. Instead of fighting off the darker aspects he inherited from his predecessors he embrace them becoming more efficient, not better. He abandoned everyone on his mad quest for vengeance and this is what he earned.

Now that it is over let me know what you guys think in the reviews. What you liked, didn't like what worked, what didn't and all of that. Also keep in mind

 **300 years is a long time.**


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